Celes Ascending
by Imrryr
Summary: The story of how a traitor became a hero and then something much, much greater.  A retelling of Final Fantasy VI.  Eventual Celes/Terra femslash.
1. The Flying Esper

AN - I suppose you could call this fic 'slightly AU' as it takes place in the same world as Final Fantasy VI, but it won't be following the plot of the original game to the letter. That being said, most of the major events of FFVI will still occur, but some will have different twists to them... or at least that's the plan.

Final Fantasy VI is the property of Square Enix. Also, I'm my own beta, so any mistakes in grammar, punctuation (likely), spelling, and lore are my own.

This chapter is** rated T** for esper nudity, bad language, and violence against plants. Taken as a whole, _'Celes Ascending_' is rated M, but at the moment the content is fairly harmless, unless you have a problem with same-sex relationships, of course. If that's the case, or if you have a problem with the pairing, please don't write to tell me about it, thanks. Anyways, for everyone else... uh... _enjoy?_*

*No pressure though.

* * *

><p>"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr<p>

Chapter 1: "The Flying Esper"

...

"You are an angel! An angel's love can comfort even lost souls.  
>O Eternal One, if I may still hope for redemption, let it be through her!"<p>

- The Dutchman, from Wagner's _'Der fliegende Holländer'_

...

_"Product of genetic engineering, a battle-hardened Magitek Knight, with a spirit as pure as snow..."_

Celes Chère

...

In an unnamed forest, south of Narshe...

...

"Blast it all, how did you get yourself into this mess?" Celes muttered to herself as she hacked through a seemingly endless maze of vines that stood in her way. Every bone in her body ached; she was sweaty, dirty, and completely miserable. Never in her life had she felt so exhausted, not even on the field of battle.

_'And the day isn't even half over', _she mentally added.

Despite all her military training, she had long ago given up on attempting even a pretense of stealth as she chopped a path through these woods. She just couldn't bring herself to care about getting caught anymore. But fortunately, that was rather unlikely at the moment. She hadn't seen a single sign of another human being since she had left the cave from South Figaro over a week ago.

Crossing over the desert and then the endless rolling plains on her chocobo, she saw not a campfire, not a footprint, **nothing** for ten damned days...

It was almost a shame, really, because a small part of her was beginning to hope that the Empire _would_ catch up to her and just put her out of her misery already. With no signs and no people to guide her to Narshe, Celes was getting the feeling that she was going to be out in this forest for the rest of her life.

Coming out here was easily the stupidest decision she had ever made in all her twenty-three years. Although, not following the river she had crossed yesterday and opting instead to give up her chocobo and continue north-west over this vine-infested ridge probably ranked a close second.

What followed was just one heavily forested ridge after another, each one looking suspiciously and frustratingly similar to the last.

And the vines! God did she ever hate them. It wasn't so much that the forest was crawling with the bloody things, or even that they were incredibly thick and grew seemingly everywhere, it was more that the vines native to this place secreted some kind of purplish goo that was not only poisonous, but also incredibly sticky. It made hacking through them an arduous task, even with the long sword she had stolen off one of her captors... Sure, she did have another weapon, one kept sharp by magical means in fact, but no, she would _not_ sully her runic blade just to cut _vines_, and certainly not _these vines_. So, her prized sword stayed in its scabbard.

Another shame really, since there were more than a few imperials in South Figaro she would love to stab with it right now.

"It would've made more sense to steal an axe... or a machete," Celes said aloud as she cut her way forward. She found she was developing a disturbing habit of talking to herself, but at the moment she was too tired to care. Her normally sharp mind yearned for a soft bed and several days of uninterrupted sleep.

If only she were a fire mage she could burn the whole sodding forest down, vines and all, she thought. Unfortunately, her ice magic only froze the damn things in place, which was rather counterproductive.

And what was worse, sometimes they turned out to be alive! She had heard that the Figarans called the living vines 'trillium'. Celes herself had been collecting a long list of names she felt described them more accurately, but she doubted she'd want to share that list with Cid, _if _she ever saw him again, despite his interest in cataloging new species. Only a fellow soldier could appreciate _that_ much profanity. Cid always frowned on such things. He was much too refined.

"Damn this place..." she muttered, sending a rock flying with a kick from her muddy boot as the memories of the closest thing she had to a father passed through her mind. The one constant in her life, the man who had raised her practically as his own daughter, and now she'd never see him again. The memories left her with a sinking feeling in her chest. _'You'll never see Cid again. You'll never see your troops again. Who's left to care for you now, Celes?'_

_'No!'_ She thought, willing those voices to silence. She would _not_ give up. She would not allow herself get depressed about this situation she had gotten herself into. Shutting her eyes, the former general did all she could to replace her despair with another, more powerful, emotion: anger. Fortunately, the local flora gave her ample physical targets for her fury, and she took out her frustrations on the nearest vines at hand.

***slash*** "I really...

***slash*** ...should have just...

***thwack*** ..._let_ them put me in that ***pant* **cell and...

***slash* **...died with some...

***pant*** damned ***pant*** dignity!"

Blind with fury directed more at herself than anything else, she slashed at another stubborn group of vines only to bury her sword deep into the mass of them.

"Oh, for the love of..." What was it with this forest anyway? Now she could fully understand why no one lived within a hundred miles of it.

When this was all over she was going to find the spot furthest away from this forest and retire there. And if that happened to be in the middle of the ocean, well, she'd just have to buy a boat...

Tightly gripping the hilt with both hands, Celes yanked out the sword only to lose her footing on the damp, mossy ground. Pirouetting as she fell, she just barely managed to catch herself with outstretched hands before she would have planted her face in the mud.

"Nice one, Celes," she muttered, noticing with irritation just how dirty her long blond hair was getting as strands of it joined her in the mud. If only her troops could see her now: the general who conquered Maranda and personally killed the master of its armies was now in a duel to the death with the forest, _and losing_.

Celes chuckled grimly as she pushed herself back on her feet. She really _was_ going to get herself killed at this rate... _and_ she was going to look pretty dreadful while doing it.

With a sigh, she took her fall as a sign from the heavens and decided to take a much needed break. Narshe would probably still be there whenever she finally did turn up. She could spare a few minutes for herself.

Celes took a long drink and used the rest of the water from her canteen to get the mud off her hands before conjuring some ice from thin air to refill it. One of the benefits of being an ice mage: never being without a supply of fresh water. One of the drawbacks: people calling you 'Ice Queen' behind your back.

Finding a large tree to lean against, Celes closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. Banishing everything else from her mind, she concentrated on the sounds of the forest and was surprised to discover that all her frenzied hacking about with her sword hadn't managed to scare all the birds away.

For a few minutes she listened to their chirping, accompanied by the singing of what she guessed were millions of cicadas.

Despite her recent experiences with them, Celes actually liked forests, well, the normal ones at least. As a young girl, she frequently pestered Cid to take her out into the forests surrounding Vector. Sure there were monsters out there, but for a young knight in training it was fun to go out and kill real monsters instead of hiding from the imaginary ones in your closet. And then, after the training was over, the two of them would sit there in the woods eating lunch and listening to the sounds of nature. It was so unlike the sounds to be heard in Vector. Now she regretted never telling Cid just how much she enjoyed it.

In the distance there was a roll of thunder, remnants of the storm that had hounded her all morning. And looking up, Celes could just barely see sunlight peeking through the canopy now. She could hear the wind rushing through the leaves up there.

_That_ was what Celes wanted to hear: the soothing sounds of wind and thunder.

For as long as she could remember, Celes had been attracted to thunderstorms. While the people of Vector took shelter from the dangerous summer storms, she embraced them. When she still lived with the other Magitek Knights in training, she would step out on to the balcony whenever a thunderstorm rolled in and simply stand there, allowing herself to be thoroughly drenched while she watched and listened to the storm play out. Cid once suggested that her odd behavior might be a side effect of the process that enabled her to use magic. And frequently she wondered if perhaps there _was_ something more to that, but Cid would never speak about that particular subject in any greater detail.

But so it was that Cid taught the young Celes to use her love for storms as a focus to calm herself. He seemed to find it very appropriate, for, even as a child, Celes in an angry mood could give even a seasoned veteran a glare that would quite literally freeze the hairs on the back of his neck and send shivers down his spine.

And well, that wouldn't do at all, what with Gestahl, Kefka, and other high ranking figures in the Empire checking in on her training at regular intervals.

_'Yes', _she thought dreamily,_ 'the light tapping sounds of millions of raindrops hitting the roofs of the city, and the fresh smell that rejuvenates the air after the storm has passed...'_

"Oww!" Celes slapped her arm. _'Mosquitoes...'_

She sighed. This forest she definitely hated. And now she was going to be nibbled to death by insects, or worse, her eyes widening at the memory, those giant hornets she had seen earlier.

She just could see the tombstone the Empire would make for her if her body was ever found:

...

_Here lies Celes Chère, Traitor to the Empire_

_Magitek Knight, Subduer of Maranda, Hero of the Battle of Anacreon_

_Born in Vector under the 24th year of the reign of Gestahl, and raised under the aegis of the Emperor Himself_

_Died face down in the mud in some godforsaken forest with a giant stinger up her bottom._

...

And she knew it would be no less than what she deserved. History never looked kindly on traitors, even if their betrayal was for a noble reason. Would it even matter if she got to Narshe? The militia was just as likely to execute her as listen to what she had to say. And her soldier's training told her that she would likely need to slice a path through half the city just to get at the mayor and have a chance to knock some sense into him, one way or another.

She could certainly do it. But it was rather counterproductive, considering her aims.

And _if_ she got that far, Celes expected one of two reactions from Narshe's leadership: cowardly appeasement, or unjustified confidence. Neutral states usually either tried to buy the Empire off, which _never _worked, or they tried to fight, completely ignorant to exactly what they were facing. Narshe would need her help, whether they liked it or not.

She frowned. There was always a chance they would simply offer _her _to the Empire. But, no, she would die before she allowed that to happen. Besides, she'd still rather meet her death in the hands of the militia of Narshe than be paraded through Vector on the way to the gallows. At least that way Cid wouldn't see her die.

_'Just don't let me die __**here**_', she thought. Traitor or not, Celes felt she at least deserved better than that. She just hated this forest _that much_.

The general scratched her arm and sighed. She didn't really feel any better, but this rest break had gone on long enough. Besides, up ahead she could now see light breaking through to the forest floor. Just a little further up this hill and there might be a small clearing beyond all these trees and vines; maybe she could finally get a glimpse of the western horizon.

Somewhere in that direction, beyond the endless ridges and vines, there was a rail line from Figaro Castle to Narshe. Unfortunately, back before her betrayal, Celes had been assigned to lead the assault on the land of Jidoor, not Figaro, so she had only a vague notion about the topography here. But Narshe was famous for its mines, and she knew there must be several railroads running from Narshe south-west to the castle in the desert. She hadn't crossed any tracks yet, so the line had to be around here somewhere. She would find the blasted thing if she had to hike all the way to the North Polar Sea and back again.

Only a few minutes later the remaining vines fell away with a mighty slash and a jubilant Celes darted out into the clearing, happy to be free and happy to finally feel the warmth of the sun on her skin again.

Unfortunately, it was a small clearing; there was no commanding view of the next valley like she had been hoping for. Still, she could at least see the sun and get some idea of where she was heading.

"All right," she said out loud, despite knowing that she was still talking to herself, "which direction is north-west?" She pulled out her pocket watch and then looked up. The noon-day sun was peeking out through the clouds.

"Shit... it's only noon." _'Ok, Celes, you know that at its highest point the sun is always northerly in position.' _She looked briefly and saw the sun in the direction she thought was south and her heart sank,_ 'Wait, have I been walking in completely the wrong direction all day?'_

She tried to remember her training on how to navigate by the sun and moon, but that seemed like a lifetime ago.

And then she groaned when the thought finally struck her. _'No, you idiot, this is the __**Northern**__ hemisphere; the sun is always to the south. You're perfectly fine...'_

"I must be more tired than I thought," she mumbled, embarrassed.

She breathed a sigh of relief, and that's when she heard it: a distant scream from above. Her head shot up just in time to catch a glimpse of something pink rocketing across the sky. _What in the world was that, _she marveled as the thing raced on until the forest canopy obstructed her view_. _Was it some kind of missile? Had the Empire caught up to her already?

_'Would they really use missiles to kill me_?' Celes wondered. She supposed she should be honored if that were the case. Missiles were expensive.

And well, if it _was_ a missile, it clearly overshot her by a substantial degree.

As she was contemplating this, she was further surprised when the object came back from the direction it had just disappeared in and began zigzagging across the sky above. She knew of no missile that could maneuver like that, but couldn't think of anything else in the imperial arsenal that moved as swiftly. Her mouth slowly fell open as she watched the object continue to dance around the noonday sun.

_'Amazing...'_

Then, to the general's horror, it stopped in mid-air, turned, and descended straight at her.

For a second she was still mesmerized. _'What_ _**is** that thing? It_ _can't be a missile...'_

"Shit!" Celes came to her senses and dove out of the way just as the _whatever it was_ crashed into the ground where she had been standing only a second before.

The shock from the collision hurled her into the undergrowth, and the sounds of cracking branches and raining dirt almost drowned out the hundreds of birds screeching and taking wing in unison.

The forest remained eerily quiet until Celes groaned and coughed into the dusty air. When she opened her eyes she found herself lying flat on her back. Then she heard it again, a scream so loud this time that it nearly deafened her. But something indefinable in that anguished scream made her heart ache. It wasn't a cry of anger; it was a cry of sorrow.

_'Not a missile then, but a monster of some kind? Hopefully, it's not a wyvern...'_

Finally, her warrior's training kicked in and she jumped to her feet. Something had nearly killed her, but what was it?

Aided by the wind, the dust began to clear as she surveyed the scene. It was impossible to miss the large crater in the dirt where she had been standing just moments before.

Breathing out a sigh of relief that she was still alive, Celes nearly had a heart attack when a oddly pink colored hand with five sharp claws suddenly poked out from behind the rim of the newly formed crater.

A moment later a head cautiously peeked out from behind the crater rim. Celes was surprised to see an impressive mane of pink hair, pink arms with purple fur growing from them, and a beautiful feminine face that she found strangely familiar...

And that was when she and the creature locked eyes with each other.

_'Wow..._' That was only word that came to her very addled mind.

As it crawled the rest of the way out of the pit, Celes could see that it certainly wasn't _just _a creature, not some strange magical animal like you could find in almost every corner of the world... This one was female, for starters... _'Yes, definitely female,' _she thought, looking lower than was proper, _'a completely naked female creature.'_

The former imperial general blushed.

Despite a secret love for roses, Celes had never particularly cared for the color pink before, but now she was faced with overwhelming evidence that pink was the most beautiful color of all. This enchanting woman before her was pink from head to toe. She gulped... '_Yes, pink from naked head to naked toe...'_

_'But was she human?' _ The blond wondered. If it wasn't for the claws, and the pink skin and hair, she just might be. But those ears of hers were rather unusual too. The tips of them curved back into points. They were different, but, Celes thought, enormously attractive...

_'Attractive? Where did that come from? Now is so not the time for that line of thinking, Celes!'_

She was gradually becoming aware of the immensely powerful magic coming off in waves from this creature. The air was charged with it. The way her skin tingled made Celes feel like she was staring directly at a storm god fallen from the sky, and she could feel the abundant magic beginning to cloud her mind.

She blinked. _ Focus, Celes! _Her mind shouted. Finally, and not without protest from every muscle in her body, she obeyed and her right palm began to glow blue.

But when she blinked again the ice spell died in her hand. Now she remembered! Spells wouldn't do here. There was a better way deal with a creature with such enormous magical power. She reached for her runic blade.

Grabbing the hilt as her eyes stayed locked with the creatures', she couldn't bring herself to draw the weapon. This creature, this _woman,_ she was so beautiful. Surely, it would be a horrible offense to kill something like her. Wouldn't it?

Her mind warred with itself. Part of it was screaming that this was some kind of trap. The other part wanted to toss aside her sword, embrace the creature, and never let go. They could fly off together and Celes would do anything it asked of her...

She blinked again. _'That's it!' _She knew what this creature was!

Back home on the distant Southern Continent there were all sorts of spirits and demons that could charm a person's mind and turn them on their friends. Even disciplined soldiers weren't immune to such powers. That _must_ be what this pink creature is: a charm demon!

Years ago there had been a major incident in Albrook where an entire division of soldiers were charmed by demons in the night. The next morning half the city was ablaze and the mutinous troops nearly overwhelmed the city garrison. Only the most loyal of soldiers had been able to look those spirits in the eyes and not be turned.

_'And you aren't exactly the most loyal of soldiers, are you?'_

Celes gritted her teeth. "Stay back!" she cried out, trying to use her most commanding voice. When she wanted to, Celes had the lungs to give out the kind of shout that could be heard over the press of the most chaotic of battles. In fact, sometimes it even terrified her own soldiers.

But this time her shout came out more like a whine, and she cringed when she heard how badly her voice wavered. She'd certainly be embarrassed if any of her soldiers heard _that_. As for the creature, it only tilted its head at her like a confused dog.

Celes shook her head; the magic in the air was intoxicating. Her heartbeat was pounding in her ears and she could hardly think straight anymore. There was a feeling of desire burning deep within her that she hadn't felt in years.

All charm demons could understand language and speak to some extent, it was necessary when they needed to give orders to their new thralls. Through the haze in her mind, she wondered if this one had understood her at all.

Apparently not, because the pink demon began crawling toward her again.

_'Gods...' _her mind swam as she watched it continue to get closer and closer. Though it looked almost human, it moved more like a cat. But the real surprising part was the creature's eyes. There was no malice in those brilliant red orbs. Looking into its eyes was completely unlike looking into the eyes of any creature she had ever seen before. This creature stared at Celes as though she were the most fascinating thing in the world, and the general found herself wanting more than anything for that to be true. She wanted to bask in this beautiful creature's attention for the rest of her life.

She also found herself with a nearly uncontrollable urge to run her hands through that thick mane of pink hair. And then... _then_ she wanted to kiss her. _Yes_, more than anything she wanted to do that...

She gulped. It was unbelievable; Celes had never felt so attracted to anyone before. Had it really been that long, she wondered. Had she gone without companionship for so long that she was now attracted to the first seductive forest nymph she chanced across?

Dimly, she could hear the rational part of her mind screaming at her, _'You're an imperial general, dammit! You're supposed to have more control than this!' _The creature must be a powerful charm demon indeed, she thought. There was no other rational explanation for the way it was affecting her.

But as much as she wanted to just let go, Celes Chère would _not_ allow herself to be tempted. She was a general, not some brain dead imperial recruit!

"I said stay back!" Celes cried out, much more effectively this time, as she finally summoned up the will to unsheathe her runic blade. The creature's eyes widened and stopped in its tracks when the general thrust the weapon straight at her. "You'll not have me!" The pink creature scrambled backwards and her bottom fell onto the grassy turf. The point of the general's sword stopped only inches from the confused creature's nose.

_'Thank the gods'_, she thought, happy both that she still had _some_ control over herself, _and_ that the creature had finally ceased moving towards her. Sweat was dripping down her brow as she watched the strange woman like a hawk. It was taking every last ounce of her strength to keep her sword hand from shaking.

The creature's own brow furrowed at the blond woman's strange actions. She sat there for a moment and then, to Celes' very great surprise, leaned forward and actually sniffed the tip of the blade as if it didn't know what it was. In all her years on the battlefield Celes had never seen anything like it: the demon was just _looking_ at the weapon, like a cat might look at a piece of bread. Had Celes not been so on edge, she might have even thought it was cute the way the creature continued to regard the point of her sword with its eyes crossed and a look of confusion on its face.

Then it slowly lifted a clawed hand. Celes gulped and prepared to thrust, should her pink friend foolishly attempt to take the sword from her, but the strange woman only cautiously extended one finger and, after a moment's hesitation, lightly tapped the blade with it.

The instant she did so there was a blinding white flash and a powerful release of energy that knocked them both in opposite directions. With a sickening thump, Celes collided with a tree and blacked out before she even hit the ground.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter<strong>: Celes regains consciousness! Will that be more exciting than it sounds? God, I hope so.

* * *

><p>AN - So, uh, obviously there are already some differences here. Celes appears to have escaped the Empire before they could drag her into that cell in South Figaro. What did she do? Well, you might find out later. I also increased her age a bit as she was only eighteen when the game starts. I wanted Celes to have a few more years of real combat experience, and it's a little hard for me to imagine a teenager as a general. Terra is still eighteen, like in the game.<p>

I should also probably mention that I'm not planning on turning Locke into a rapist, or anything equally ridiculous, in order to force Celes and Terra's romantic relationship. I dislike character bashing, or when people write a canon romantic interest completely out of character in order to justify a different pairing. That's the kind of thing you do when you're twelve, imo. Besides, I like Locke, so I wouldn't do such a thing anyway.

That being said, with its limited amount of dialogue, FF6 provides a lot of leeway in terms of character history, personalities, relationships and so on. Hopefully, my interpretations of the people in this story will all feel like they are in character. My apologies if you feel that is not the case.

PS: If you have any questions, feel free to ask. And crits and reviews are always appreciated :)

Also, I sincerely hope that this ends up being the longest author's note I ever write. -.-


	2. Non so più cosa son

AN - Thank you for all the reviews/faves/alerts. :)

* * *

><p>"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr<p>

Chapter 2: "Non so più cosa son"

...

_"I don't know anymore what I am, or what I'm doing_

_Now I'm on fire, now I'm freezing_

_Every woman makes me change colour,_

_Every woman makes my heart flutter."_

- Cherubino from Mozart's _'Le Nozze di Figaro'_

...

Three Years Ago, in the city of Vector...

...

"Celes."

...

"Celes?"

_'Nnngggh..?'_

"Hey, Celes? Wake up already!"

Groggily, the Imperial General opened her eyes. Before her was a familiar table with its many disorganized stacks of papers.

She shook her head, _'I really need to stop making a habit of falling asleep at my desk,' _she mused. _'This is what - the third time this week? It's soooo pathetic...'_

What was worse, she had been using her upper arm as a pillow, so there was no way she didn't have a big red mark on her face right now.

Sitting up and brushing the hair out of her eyes, Celes finally acknowledged the tall, dark haired woman looming over her. It was Colonel Fang, dressed in her tribal sari, a clear sign she wasn't on duty at the moment. Then her eyes darted to the windows, '_Oh, crap.'_ It hadn't been dark the last time she looked outside.

Fang stared down at her with those piercing green eyes and a slight smile on her face. Celes didn't know why, but her friend's predatory gaze always made her feel a little uncomfortable; like all her secrets weren't so secret when this woman was around. It was fortunate that the woman was so trustworthy (tribal codes of honor and all that) because she found herself frequently confiding in the younger woman. "You know," the unexpected guest drawled, "that red band across your forehead looks real good on you. Ever consider wearing a bandanna?"

Before Celes could even begin think of a suitably sarcastic reply, Lightning, her young squire, burst into the room. The girl dashed to the table and gave Fang a murderous look. But surprisingly, despite her haste, her voice was as calm as ever, "I'm sorry, General. I wasn't able to stop her."

"Damn right," Fang said, flashing the young Magitek Knight a grin. "And you won't ever be able to stop me either, Sunshine."

The sight of Lightning's narrowing eyes had Celes quickly holding up a hand in an attempt to diffuse the situation. Those two were always - fighting? flirting? She wasn't entirely sure sometimes. "Lightning, please, it's fine."

The young woman nodded, cast one last suspicious glance at the still grinning Fang, and then reluctantly turned on her heel and took her usual spot by the far door. _ 'That girl is way too rigid for her own good', _Celes thought. She wondered who was training the young Magitek Knights these days, or if maybe the training was all handled by machines now.

"So," Celes began, as she rubbed her temple, "What brings you here at this time of night?"

Fang took a seat in her customary way: by grabbing the nearest chair, turning it around and sitting on it backwards. "First, it's barely 1900 hours. Second, I got something important to talk to you about, yeah?"

"Fine... Fine..." Celes said, instinctively reaching out for a now long cold cup of coffee. Fang was one of the few close friends she had in the army. And among women who had never been infused with magic, she had the highest rank by far. Oerba Yun Fang was commander of the prestigious 101st 'Flying Viper' Brigade. If ever there was a mountain fortress to be taken, a strategic bridge captured, a stronghold held against superior numbers, Fang's unit would always be Celes' first choice to handle it.

She was the most reliable soldier out there, man or woman, and she bloody well knew it.

The general looked down at the desk she had just been resting her head on for the past few hours, groaning when she noticed she had drooled on the list she was making. "Great. Now I'm going to have to re-write this."

"Good," Fang said, "and while you're doin' that you can put me on the top of that list."

_'No way,'_ she thought, '_Fang couldn't possibly know, could she?'_ Thinking quickly, Celes decided to play dumb. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Fang rolled her eyes as she stared at the list beneath the general's hand. "Don't give me that. The Emperor wants an entire platoon of the best your army has to offer for some kind of secret mission. And as I see it, they don't have the best if they don't have me," she said with a tone that exuded absolute confidence in her own abilities. It was a tone she used often.

And if Celes' senses hadn't been enhanced by the Magitek infusion process, she might have missed Lightning's dismissive snort from the far end of the room.

"You know I can't talk about that, Fang. It's classified."

In a flash, Fang was on her feet and her chair was on its side. "Classified?" she roared. "_My ass_ is classified! Are we friends or what?"

Celes sighed in defeat, she had a hard time denying Fang anything. "Fine... yes, I'm compiling a list of suitable candidates, but no, you're _not_ going."

'_Oh, that did it'._ The warrior planted her hands firmly on the general's desk. "And why the hell not?"

Celes gulped involuntarily. It was at times like these that she was glad Fang truly was her friend. In the face of the woman's temper she needn't be worried about her own safety... _although_, the safety of her furniture was another matter entirely.

"Fang. We've got a war brewing with Tzen, I'm going to need you here. I can't have all my best commanders away from their units if we get the call to move."

"No chance of that happening, Blondie. I've heard Kefka's got that command for sure."

_What? __** Kefka? **__ Leading an army?_ Celes's mood was quickly turning sour. _'Was this some kind of sick joke?'_ "Who told you that?"

"Paine." Fang continued when Celes gave her a blank look, "You know, _General Leo's squire_, she filled me in. Kefka's been bitter about not getting a crack at military glory. I guess granting him this command is the Emperor's way of shutting him up, and keeping the fool from burning down the Imperial Palace in his boredom."

By this point, Celes was out of her chair and pacing. It just didn't make sense. What was going on in Gestahl's head? "But _Kefka? _I wouldn't trust him to run a lunch buffet, let alone an entire army!"

"No argument here," Fang said with a shrug. "But as I was sayin', you won't be needing me for anything, so just jot my name down on that sheet of paper there and I can get goin'."

Celes sighed as she picked up a pen. She would have to put the Kefka matter out of her mind. There was nothing that she could do about it anyway; if Gestahl made a decision then the matter was settled. "Where do you have to go in such a damn hurry anyway?" she asked as she added Fang's name to the top of a brand new list.

"Big get together at the Black Hand Inn. You're always welcome to join us, you know?" Fang smirked as Celes began shaking her head before she had even finished. "Come on! Lots of people will be there, plenty of handsome men _and _women, whichever tickles your fancy."

Celes blushed. "N - No thanks, Fang. I'm backed up as it is," she said, gesturing to a desk piled high with documents.

"Remove that stick from your butt and you'll find that'll clear itself out naturally," Fang said with a laugh as she made to leave.

Celes rolled her eyes, but called out Fang's name to stop her. The seriousness of her tone got the warrior's attention. "Are you sure you want to do this? If you go, you won't have the rest of your unit backing you up. I don't want to lose my best officer." '_Or my best friend,'_ she almost added.

The warrior smiled. "Every day could be my last. You know as well as I do that I could just as soon die tomorrow to an assassin's blade," she said with a shrug. "There are lots of people from Maranda who'd like to see me dead, same as you."

"What if I said I'd miss your company?"

Fang laughed. "Now _that_ I'd understand, but no worries, you got Lightning here, and all those other attractive young guards of yours."

"Yeah, yeah," Celes said quickly, before Fang could embarrass her further. She should've known better than to try to change the warrior's mind. "Just... watch your back out there, all right? Come back safe. You can consider that an order," she added with a slight smile.

"No worries, love. Not even the end of the world could stop me."

With a slap to the blond woman's shoulder, she then looked Lightning up and down with a look of appraisal that had the pink haired woman narrowing her eyes again.

"You're welcome to come to the party too, you know."

Lightning shook her head. In response, Fang leaned over and whispered something into the girl's ear, which, Celes noticed, caused the young squire's face to turn a surprising shade of red. Celes grew alarmed when she saw the girl's hands tighten into fists, but fortunately, Lightning just stood there, like the well trained squire she was.

"See ya later, Sunshine," Fang added, flashing the squire a smile before she walked down the hallway and slammed the door behind her.

Celes noted with amusement that her squire's cheeks were still pink. "You know, I think she likes you, Lightning."

The other woman shook her head. "Hmph... I'm pretty sure she treats half the people in Vector like that."

"Perhaps, but she only gives nicknames to the ones she _really_ likes."

"Lucky us then," Lightning said, looking up from the floor with a knowing smile.

Celes smiled, "Yeah," she said with a laugh. Then she sighed, remembering the list on her desk. Now she needed to copy the other forty-nine names from the old list onto this one. She'd never been inside an Imperial recruitment office, but doubtless the recruitment posters there emphasized the 'seeing the world' aspect of Imperial service more than the 'fill out forms and stand around with your thumb up your ass' parts.

"Just wait until you're a general, Lightning," Celes said as she leaned over her desk and wrote. "Then you'll be the one filling out endless forms day after day, and attending meetings with people like Kefka on a regular basis, while the smart ones, like, say, _Fang_," she said, pausing to nod in the direction of the door, "have all the fun."

"First time anyone's used the words 'smart' and 'Fang' in the same sentence," the pink haired woman muttered to herself.

Celes laughed. Lightning didn't take Fang's teasing well, but all the same, the girl had an undeniable crush on the older woman, a situation that Celes thought was just about the cutest thing ever.

"What was she yelling about, anyway?"

Since clearly this secret mission wasn't as big of a secret as she once thought, she handed her old list to Lightning.

"This is..." It took the girl a moment to make sense of it, "This is a list of all the most highly decorated soldiers in your army," Lightning said, sounding a bit confused. There wasn't a single soldier listed who hadn't been awarded the Knight's Cross, or a medal of valor of some kind or another.

"That's right. Gestahl wants fifty of the best soldiers I have for a mission 'of vital importance to the future of the Empire'," she said, making air quotes with her free hand as she continued writing.

For a moment, the only sound to be heard was the scratching of Celes' pen against paper. _ '- Number 18: Brigadier General Raines, Number 19: Sergeant -'_

"I - can I speak freely?"

Celes stopped, more surprised by the woman's tone than the question, "Always."

"I don't like the sound of this."

"Just between you and me," the General began, crossing her arms and leaning back against the desk, "I don't either." And even that was an understatement. Everything about the Emperor's request was highly unorthodox. She just hoped it wasn't another pointless raid, like the one on Kohlingen last year. Twenty Imperial soldiers and over three-hundred civilians dead, and all for no gain whatsoever.

Still, if anyone could survive this upcoming mission, it would be Fang.

"Then why put your best soldiers at risk?"

Celes gestured at the chair Fang had knocked over earlier. Lightning took the hint, righted the chair and sat down.

"Have I ever told you how I got this command?"

Lightning shook her head. She had only been Celes' squire for maybe half a year now, and they hadn't spent much of their time talking about the past. Neither woman had childhoods that were all that pleasant.

"I was eighteen years old, officially I was a General of the Empire, but I had no army to lead. I watched as male Knights younger than me were given commands while I sat around doing... well, doing pretty much what I'm doing right now: filling out forms, just not for my own army, but rather for Leo's.

"Then, out of the blue, I was summoned to the Imperial Court. The Emperor actually met me in the waiting room, which was a huge honor in itself. He told me that he was building a new world order, and in his vision of a united humanity there would be no room for sexism. Everybody in his empire was to be given the position they were most suited for in life. He said that he chose me personally when I was plucked from that orphanage as a baby. He said he knew I was destined for great things, and there was no way I was going to be allowed to waste my life.

Celes blushed. She could still remember how, after that meeting, she grinned like an idiot all the way back to the dormitory. "And, well, the very next day I was traveling west to take command of the Third Imperial Army."

"The Maranda Campaign?"

"Yeah," Celes said with a slight smile.

"But -"

"What does that have to do with this?" Celes asked as she held up her list, Lightning nodded with a rare smile of her own. "Emperor Gestahl believed in me. He allowed me to hold the lives of one-hundred thousand of his soldiers in my hands, all so I could have a chance to prove myself. Now, I will show the Emperor how much I believe in him by sending my finest officers and soldiers on this mission of his."

Lightning nodded. "I think I understand."

Celes nodded back.

"Can I ask one more question?"

"Of course."

"Why am_ I _not going?" she asked, crossing her arms. If Celes didn't know better, she'd call the girl's tone 'petulant'.

Celes fought back a smile. "You're already a fantastic soldier, Lightning, but you're still young. In another year you'll have an official rank and I can assign you to any unit you like. This mission, however, is for highly experienced veterans only."

The young Knight sighed.

"Don't be in such a hurry. You have plenty of years ahead of you in which to impress Fang with your martial skills."

"Oh, _please_..." she protested. But the blush from earlier had returned.

Celes dropped back into her chair. "Now, go," she said, pointing to the door, "tell Fang and the others, I said 'hi'."

"Wh –"

"I know you're thinking about going."

Lightning huffed and shook her head, pink strands of hair falling in front of her eyes. Inwardly, Celes was happy to see that, despite the girl's military upbringing, she could sometimes still look like the teenager she was.

"Just do me a favor and put a record on before you go."

The girl nodded; it was a typical request. Celes enjoyed listening to music and had an absolutely massive collection of records, all which occupied an entire wall of her office. "Any preferences?"

"Something classical," she mumbled distractedly, already returning to her list.

With an amused smile, because all Celes had in her collection was classical music, Lightning pulled out what was apparently a recording of an opera in a language she couldn't understand. When the record began to play and Celes began mouthing the words, Lightning quietly exited the room. Without a thought, her feet took her outside and in the direction of the Black Hand Inn.

Back in her office, Celes sang quietly to herself as she completed her list. Unfortunately, the rest of the night's paperwork required substantially more of her attention.

'_Now to go through thes__e damn reports...'_

She honestly tried to stay awake, but by the time she got to Colonel Erulin's hundred page report entitled 'Preliminary Survey on the Status of the Aqueduct Networks in the Imperial Commissariat of Maranda,' Celes could feel herself nodding off. But that was o.k. There was always tomorrow. And it wasn't like she had anything better to do these days.

...

The Present Day, in the Forest South of Narshe...

...

As she awoke, the lyrics from that opera still lingering in her head,

_'Ogni donna cangiar di colore, ogni donna mi fa palpitar..._'

Yet some strange reason, she thought she could hear a vaguely familiar voice calling her name. "Celes, is that you?"

"Ogni don-na mi faaa paaal-pitaaar..."

"Um... Celes, are you all right?"

The blond woman groaned and shook her head. That memory from all those years ago... it felt so real. As bored as she had been in Vector, those days had still been the last happy ones she could remember having. Two weeks later, Fang and forty-nine of the Third Army's finest officers and soldiers disappeared and never returned.

No one would ever tell her what became of those fifty men and women, only that they died for the glory of the Empire, but the loss of such fine warriors was a serious blow to Celes' army. Moreover, it was a serious blow to Celes herself. She knew each and every one of those soldiers personally. She had been friends with many of them, had even grown up with some of them.

Indeed, practically everything in Celes' world fell apart in the weeks that followed, and that included her young squire. Lightning was no longer the same woman. The changes were probably hard for an outsider to notice, but Celes could see the telltale signs of sleepless nights in the bags under the woman's eyes, and she hadn't seen Lightning smile since the day the news came back. Losing Fang was a bigger blow to the young Knight than she'd ever admit, even to Celes.

A few months later, and not long after Lightning turned seventeen, Celes gave her command of Fang's demoralized regiment. She seemed pleased. It was an opportunity to honor Fang's memory, to do something that would make Fang proud of her, even if the woman was no longer around to actually _be_ proud of her. Lightning immediately began devoting all of her time to rebuilding the unit, and by all accounts became as admired by the men and women of the 101st as Fang had been, but over the months and years that followed, she and Celes drifted apart to the point where the woman stopped answering her letters entirely.

Left to herself, receiving nothing but deflections when inquiring about the fate of her soldiers, commanding the ruins of a demoralized army with no enemies on the continent left to fight, Celes began to examine her life as an Imperial General. More and more she found herself questioning the orders she was being given, and the role her army was expected to perform. Eventually, she even came to question the use of power itself, and whether or not it was truly right to unite the world by force, as the Emperor, and she too at one point, desired.

It was those traitorous questions that eventually led her here, to this forest...

...

_"A mysterious young woman, born with the gift of magic, and enslaved by the Gestahlian Empire"_

Terra Branford

...

Shaking her head again, Celes tensed. Someone was definitely kneeling over her, but this was no dream. Despite crashing into that tree, she still had enough of her wits about her to be certain it wasn't Fang or Lightning. Besides, this person's hair... it was... _green?_

"Celes!"

Whoever it was placed a small hand on her aching forehead. In an instant, Celes felt a pleasant warmth traveling through her entire body. She recognized the feeling... healing magic. Her eyes rolled back in her head. It always felt worlds better to be healed by someone else, rather than doing the healing yourself, and Celes was exhausted, so this... well, _this_ felt exceptionally good. Certainly, a hell of a lot better than those mass-produced potions the army handed out.

Finally, she could see properly, and her splitting headache was diminishing. She opened her eyes again. _'Green Hair, curious blue eyes. You know, that face looks awfully familiar. Wait -' _"Terra?"

The kneeling woman smiled a bit nervously, "Hello, Celes," she said in a familiar, timid voice, "Um... how have you been?" The girl was remarkably calm, considering she was completely naked. "Do you feel o.k. now?"

Celes stared back at the girl with her mouth hanging open. Terra was naked. Why in the world was she naked? Unconsciously, she looked the woman up and down. '_Wow'_, she thought, '_apparently, green __**is **__her natural hair color.'_ Eyes widening as the full reality of the situation hit her, the General stammered, certain that her complexion was as red as a tomato at that moment. "Y-y-you're... uh... _naked_, Terra."

Terra looked down and regarded herself for a moment, "Yes," she said, blushing, "I, uh - appear to have misplaced my clothes."

_'Yes, but WHY?'_ her mind screamed. Vowing to look anywhere except directly ahead, Celes quickly spotted her backpack lying on the grassy ground a few feet away and pointed to it. "M-my cape... it's in there."

Terra regarded the object, not quite understanding what Celes was getting at.

"_Put it on_, Terra."

"OH! Right, right..." she said, getting up quickly.

Before she could see any more parts of her, Celes clapped both hands over her eyes. She would _not_ look. It wasn't proper to look. _'She sure is pretty though,'_ her mind added unhelpfully, and it even supplied pictures to illustrate the point.

A few moments of rustling followed, before Terra called out, "Um... you can open your eyes now."

Celes did so. She was now very, very thankful she had kept her green cape, and was rather amused with how well it matched the color of Terra's long, green hair. She did everything she could to forget that the woman was completely naked under it.

"Thank you for letting me borrow this," the green haired woman said with a slight smile, wrapping the cape more tightly around her thin body.

"N-no problem, Terra," Celes replied weakly while still trying to avert her eyes. Gods, was this ever awkward. Waking up with a naked woman practically in her lap was really throwing her off her game.

"It's good to see you again. How long has it been?" Terra asked, making an attempt to alleviate the awkwardness of this situation. Although the memory of her time under Imperial control was becoming more and more clear, she still couldn't remember ever being in a situation more uncomfortable than this.

Celes found her mind clearing now that Terra was no longer naked, "Three years, I think. The rally at the Grand Palace." And they hadn't really spoken that day. It hadn't been long after she had received the news about her fifty soldiers. She hadn't been in the mood to talk to anyone.

Terra nodded sadly.

Despite her own high position in the Imperial hierarchy, Celes didn't really know Terra all that well. They had played together very occasionally as children, but once she hit her teens she was frequently off training, and Terra... well, she didn't know what the Empire, and Kefka, were doing with her. Perhaps she didn't want to know. But there was one thing about the young woman that was a constant throughout all those years and continued to the present day: the ever present sense of sadness that hung about her; a feeling like the girl had lost something very important to her. Celes wouldn't be at all surprised if that were the case.

Wait just a damn minute... That face, she had seen it just before she blacked out! "Terra? That pink creature... that was you, wasn't it?"

The woman cringed, but nodded again.

Celes' mind raced. How was something like that even possible? "Have you always been able to do that?"

"N-no. It just... sort of... _happened_, and," Terra paused, thinking for a moment, "I think that may be how I lost my clothes."

"But _how_ did you transform?"

"I-" Terra shut her mouth and regarded Celes skeptically. She had only been with the Returners for a few weeks now. What would Banon want her to say? How much was she allowed to tell the other woman? Was Celes still with the Empire? The woman was still dressed like a general, but the very fact she was out here alone in the woods certainly didn't make any sense. She couldn't picture General Leo hiking in the mountains deep behind enemy lines all by himself.

Perhaps she was out here to defect? Maybe she could be persuaded to join the resistance?

Either way, now was the time to see where the blond woman's loyalties were, _and_ maybe prepare to throw a fireball at her just in case Celes didn't like the bombshell she was about to drop. "I've joined the Returners."

"The Returners?" _'What are the odds of that,'_ she wondered. In fact, her surprise was so great she didn't even register Terra's evasion of her original question.

Terra looked like she was getting increasingly irritated and distrustful, so Celes moved quickly to diffuse the situation. "I'm not with the Empire anymore either."

The green haired woman cocked her head. It reminded Celes of the way that pink version of Terra had reacted to her order to 'stay back'. "You're not?" Unbeknownst to her, the fire spell Terra had been preparing died in her hand. Maybe Celes _could _be trusted...

"I disagreed with the wrong people, in front of the wrong people. Major-General Dekker tried to have me locked up, but I escaped," Celes said simply. The less she thought about the past two weeks of traveling, the happier she would be. "I'm headed to Narshe. An Imperial army is marching there as we speak."

"Narshe? That's where I was bef-" Terra abruptly closed her mouth, staring at Celes suspiciously.

Celes smiled at the slip-up_. 'So Narshe threw their lot in with the Returners then?' _"What were you doing there?" she asked.

Terra sighed, this whole attempt at trying to figure out Celes' intentions without compromising the Returners was not going to plan. "Well, originally, Kefka sent me there with two other soldiers. Then I escaped, joined the Returners and came back." That was a very heavily abridged summary of the last several months, but she hoped it would do.

Of course, it didn't.

"Why would Kefka send you to _Narshe_?" Sure, Narshe was rich in mineral wealth, but it was hardly worth the cost in terms of lives and material that would be lost in order to secure a city so deep in Returner territory. There must be something incredibly valuable there.

Terra sighed and shook her head. It was time to lie... or at least, _mislead_ _slightly_. That was o.k. if done for a good cause, right? "There are a lot of things I don't remember... Kefka made me wear a slave crown for the mission –"

Celes interrupted, her voice laced with fury, "A slave crown?"

Terra shivered. She thought she felt the wind pick up and the air grew noticeably chillier, but maybe that was just in her head. Regardless, Celes in anger was probably the most frightening thing she had ever seen.

"Sorry," the woman said weakly when she noticed the hint of fear in Terra's eyes. "It's just – those things should be banned. They should be more than banned! They should be dumped in a volcano, and then the volcano should be dumped in the ocean! It's inhuman to use them..." Of course, that very aspect easily explained why Kefka was so fond of the damned things.

The other woman nodded, but said nothing.

Minutes of awkward silence followed with both women staring nervously at their feet.

'_How do I get her to trust me?' _Celes wondered. Perhaps she could start by making her betrayal official. After all, here was a prime opportunity to forge a new destiny. Here was an opportunity to join a movement that might have more to offer her than broken promises, rule by maniacs, and a united world that more closely resembled a graveyard than the utopia Celes had dreamed of as a teenager.

It might be the only opportunity she would ever get. Sitting up straight, Celes steeled herself. "I want to join the Returners," she said into the quiet. "If they'll have me..."

The green-haired woman blinked, this was unexpected, she had thought Celes was as loyal to the Empire as Leo, or even Kefka. Yet somehow it made sense... the blond woman had never been much like either of them. Even when they were in Vector, Celes made little secret of her contempt for Kefka and his actions.

"Can I trust you, Celes?"

"I swear it, Terra," she said quietly, yet solemnly, "on all the honor I have left. I want-,"she paused, _'What __**do **__you want, Celes?'_ "I want to make up for the mistakes I've made." _'Oh, great, you'd better clear your calendar for the next hundred years then...' _

It was annoying, but her inner voice was right about that. What could she possibly do that would ever make up for Maranda?

There was a another lull while Terra thought it over. As one of the Empire's most successful military leaders, Celes would be a huge asset to the Returners. But would her friends trust her? And if she were given soldiers to command, would they trust her? Admittedly, Terra had no idea; she wasn't military minded. She wasn't even a soldier, never had been. All of her life she had been a pawn. She wondered if, even after changing sides, she might still be one.

Meanwhile, being left to think, Celes was feeling increasingly miserable. It took years for her to become a respected military commander, working twice as hard as the men just to get half as much respect. Now she would have to do it all again, only this time with the specter of her betrayal hanging over her every action.

"All right."

"Huh?" What had they been talking about?

"I believe you. We can go to Narshe together, and I'll introduce you to Banon." _'And Edgar, Arvis, and hopefully Locke, if he's back by now,' _she mentally added. If Celes _was_ on some kind of unlikely assassination mission, Terra was reasonably confident that she and her friends together could stop her.

Not that she thought that would be necessary. She wanted to trust this woman. Celes had always been kind to her.

"But will they have me?" Celes asked in a surprisingly meek tone of voice.

Terra smiled. "I'll vouch for you."

"A former slave of Kefka vouching for a former general of the Empire... Yes, I'm sure that will go over well," the blonde woman muttered. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, but there was a slight smile still on her lips.

Terra's own smile widened as she held out her hand, and with one strong tug, the former general was back on her feet. It was surprising how easily the other woman pulled her up. '_She must be a lot stronger than she looks,' _Celes thought. _'I wonder if it's because she was born with magic?' _There were so many things she didn't know about the woman, she had no idea where to begin.

"So..." Celes drawled, "you really don't know how you turned into that pink creature?"

Terra frowned. "I - well, like I said, my memory is kind of foggy," that wasn't exactly a lie; Terra could vaguely remember Banon, Edgar, and Arvis walking with her through the caves. She could remember the esper, and how it seemed to react to her presence... but then, there was a blank, and the next thing she knew she was flying through the air.

Even now, there were bits of memories coming to the surface that she couldn't quite place. Everything felt jumbled and out of sequence. It was like her mind had been run over by a herd of chocobos.

"You see, there's -" _'No,'_ Terra abruptly shut her mouth. There was this unbelievably strong desire to share everything with the other woman. Celes was a Magitek Knight, and she had served the Empire all her life, perhaps she was the key Terra needed in order to better understand herself. But still, Celes _was_ an Imperial General, had at one time sworn loyalty to the Emperor, and had almost flattened Maranda for him. Could anyone who had done those things _ever_ be trusted?

She would need to get to know Celes better before telling her about the frozen esper. "You'll just have to see when we get there," she added with a shake of her head.

Celes sighed. Terra was definitely holding back something, or rather, _a lot_ of somethings, but for whatever reason she just didn't have the heart to force it out of the girl. Terra was by no means a weak person, physically or mentally, but the last thing Celes wanted to do was upset her. At least she was certain this wasn't a trap; Terra seemed to be a rotten liar.

The blond woman walked around the clearing, gathering up the various things that had been sent flying from her earlier encounter with the woman. _ 'Backpack, canteen, longsword, coin purse, scabbard... Now, where the hell is my -'_

"Hang on," Terra called out as she ran over to the crater, cape flapping in the breeze. Lying there in the dirt was Celes' silver runic blade. The well cared for weapon shone brightly in the sun. "Here's your sword," she said, bending over to pick it up.

"Terra, wait!" But it was too late; the girl touched the grip and let out a shriek that made Celes cringe. "It's a runic blade," Celes added weakly, "It's not attuned to you."

Terra, who must have jumped a full five feet backwards, shook her hand, trying to dispel the burning sensation running up and down her arm. "Oww..."

* * *

><p>Next Chapter: To Narshe!<p>

* * *

><p>AN – A magic absorbing runic blade needs to be attuned to the user before it's picked up, otherwise the experience can be quite painful. :)<p>

I originally intended for this chapter to continue up until our two heroines got to Narshe, but Celes' flashback went on for a bit longer than I anticipated. Sadly, despite this change, I'm still failing at limiting each chapter to five-thousand words.

Hopefully, it won't bug people that I've included characters from FFXIII in this story. I wanted to expand a bit on Celes' earlier life as a General, as well as give her some friends from those days beyond just her "granddad" Cid. You'll see some of the characters in Celes' flashback in later chapters, but only as minor characters.


	3. The Joy of the Hunt

"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr

Chapter 3: "The Joy of the Hunt"

...

"Diana is present to brighten the night;

Her darkness cools us like any refreshment in the day."

-The Huntsmen's Chorus, from Carl Maria Von Weber's_ 'Der Freishutz'_

...

Half an hour after sunset, along the Old Figaran Highway to Narshe...

...

'Join the army,' they said, 'you'll see the world,' they said. Admittedly, they hadn't been lying about that; Private Theron had seen a fair amount of the world indeed since he enlisted two years ago, but he was finding that the novelty quickly wore off. As far as he was concerned, the forests here looked exactly like the forests everywhere else, the food was terrible no matter where the army went, and the less said about the company the better. Surely, he must have made an enemy of one of his superior officers somewhere down the line. Why else would he be given this patrol in the middle of nowhere with only the perpetually surly Lieutenant Porkins for company?

"Does anyone seriously believe she went this way?" Theron asked into the chilly night air, struggling to see his superior officer's bearded face under that flashy metal helm of his. According to the officer who had briefed them, the Old Highway was a twisty and sometimes dangerous stretch of road seldom traveled these days. Even by chocobo, taking this route added days, if not weeks, to a journey from Figaro Castle to Narshe.

The older, and substantially larger, of the two riders grunted, "How the fuck should I know? And keep yer damned voice down! You want 'er to hear us coming or something?"

And that, sadly, was a perfect example of the lieutenant displaying his full communicative abilities. And was the profanity really necessary? Theron certainly didn't think so. After all, his mother had raised him better than that. Still, he was trying to make the best of things, and had been, off and on, attempting to engage the lieutenant in friendly conversation.

He tried a number of subjects that might interest a military man: chocobo racing, the latest military weaponry, even the loathsome subject of Imperial politics... but nothing seemed to grab the lieutenant's attention. The man had absolutely no interests... and really, no positive traits at all that Theron could discern.

And what was worse was they were out here in the middle of nowhere searching for that traitor, General Celes. What they were supposed to do if they ran across the renegade Knight, he really had no idea. Ask the woman nicely to turn herself in, perhaps?

When he put that question to his superior officer, the man's response was that they had wall rings to stop her magic, and after all she was just a woman, not a juggernaut. The two of them could handle her, or so he insisted.

Theron silently doubted that. He had never met one, but surely Magitek Knights were trained in more than just hurling fire, or lightning, or whatever other kinds of magic about. And Celes Chère had been a _general_...

...

By the light of the full moon, Celes watched the two Imperial riders approach. Even if they hadn't been arguing with each other, the moonlight reflecting off the fat one's silver battle helm gave their positions away several minutes ago.

She had been lying in wait in this position since then. Here, the old Figaran highway temporarily ran parallel with a double line of railroad tracks. Unfortunately, there had been no trains on the tracks, or travelers on the road for that matter, in the several hours since she and Terra had blundered across the railroad and began following it north. Until now, of course...

If she had just wanted to avoid detection she could have easily waited out of sight in the forest until the patrol passed, but those two soldiers were riding chocobos.

Celes wanted those chocobos.

The men were still talking to each other, oblivious to the ambush that awaited them. "Wouldn't a general be pretty hard to capture? I mean, Leo -"

The fat one cut him off, "Leo's a seasoned veteran, Celes is just a girl. I doubt she did any real fighting during that whole campaign of hers. Probably had her men doin' all the _real_ work for her."

Hidden behind her tree, the former general seethed.

"What are we supposed to do with her if we catch her?"

"Heh. I know what _I'd_ like to do with her," the fat one said with a laugh.

"Oh, you son of a..." The riders stopped in their tracks and everything went deathly quiet. _'Shit,' _Celes thought, _'I said that out loud! Oh, blast it!'_ "Terra!" she cried out, "Now!"

From high in the trees came a rain of fire spells that would have put an Imperial firebombing raid to shame. As Celes anticipated, the wave of fire hit the invisible shield surrounding the two riders with a loud pinging sound and reflected back in an arc. Still, the fire had the desired effect; the chocobos had been spooked and dropped their surprised riders on the ground.

Celes came charging out of the woods, runic blade in hand. She felt a rush of energy as her body absorbed Terra's reflected fire magic through the sword.

Without a word, she cut the two soldiers down before they could even raise their own weapons.

And it was over. In less than half a minute the "battle" was finished.

The general silently stared down at those two men lying dead on the road, blood already pooling around their bodies. "I really am a traitor now," she whispered to herself. Her throat went dry. Seeing those dead bodies reminded her too much of the first time she had killed a man, and how afterwards she ran into the forest and cried for hours until Cid eventually found her.

She had been fourteen then, and at this moment fourteen was exactly as old as she felt.

It had all been for the good of the Empire, Cid had told her, and those words did eventually quell her tears, but that excuse wasn't going to fly this time...

"Are you all right?" Terra called from up in the trees, concern evident in her voice.

Celes shook her head, but was about to answer in the affirmative anyway when she heard a soft shuffling behind her. Spinning on her heels, she saw the two riderless chocobos huddled together fifteen feet away and eying her very suspiciously.

What does one say to calm down a chocobo? Celes wasn't sure. These giant birds seemed more wild and untrained than the ones she was used to riding. She called out in what she hoped was her least threatening voice, "Um... come here little birdies?" The second those embarrassing words left her mouth, the two giant birds looked at each other for an instant and then took off together in the direction of Figaro Castle.

"I hate my life..." she muttered, then groaned out loud when she realized she was still clutching a very bloody sword in her hand. Celes supposed that if she were a chocobo she would have run from such a sight too. In frustration, she cast the weapon aside and quickly prepared an ice spell.

Terra, meanwhile, had scrambled down the tree. When she saw what Celes was planning she practically threw herself at the other woman. "No!" she shouted, grabbing Celes' hand and sending the ice bolt flying into the woods.

"Terra?" she yelled, over the sound of snapping branches. "What the hell are you doing?" She looked down the road, a sad longing expression forming on her face. The chocobos were long gone now; all she could see was the dust trail they were kicking up behind them as they ran for their lives.

"You were going to hit those poor chocobos with an ice spell!"

Celes almost pouted. "I was just going to freeze them temporarily, so we could catch up to them..."

"Oh..." the younger woman said, sheepishly. "Sorry, I guess. But_ still_..." Freezing a chocobo just seemed wrong somehow. They were so soft and cute looking!

Celes sighed even as she failed to suppress a smile. "I know, I know... We'll find some other way to get to Narshe. It's no big deal." A chocobo wasn't going to get them to the city quickly enough to the stop the Empire anyway. What they needed was a train.

When Terra smiled back, Celes found herself more pleased than she thought she would be. For some reason she tried not to think about, she really liked seeing Terra happy. The more she thought about it, the more she was certain that the girl's life up to this point had given her little to smile about.

_'Maybe if you had done something, said something, back in Vector...'_

Another sigh. Now was not the time to dwell on that. She needed to come up with a way to stop the next northbound train so they could get the hell out of this place, _if_ such a train ever appeared...

* * *

><p>Later that evening...<p>

...

When she pulled out her pocket watch to find it was ten o'clock, Celes finally acknowledged to herself that it was about time to find a suitable place to sleep for the night. Curiously, despite her earlier ordeal, Terra showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever. Of course, Terra hadn't spent the entire morning hacking her way through the forest like Celes had. But then, the woman had transformed into some kind of pink version of herself before flying hundreds of miles through the air just a couple of hours ago. She wondered if such activities were at all tiring.

Apparently not, if Terra's current demeanor was any indication. It was even more remarkable, considering the woman wasn't even wearing shoes, just Celes' old green cloak and a cord of rope tied around her waist to help keep it closed in that particular area.

The fact that Terra wasn't tiring as the night dragged on made it seem to Celes that the young woman might be substantially more powerful than even herself. Perhaps being born with magic gave her more stamina and resistance to pain.

The possibility actually made Celes feel a bit jealous.

Eventually, they followed a small stream uphill from the railroad tracks for several hundred feet until they reached a spot where a rockfall had created a small natural pond. In the moonlight the spot was almost idyllic, but more importantly it was far enough away from the tracks that no one would be able to see the campfire Terra easily prepared.

As they shared some Imperial Army rations together in front of the fire, Celes found herself struggling to come up with things to say to the other woman. Now that she really thought about it, it may have actually been years since she had tried to engage a stranger in friendly conversation. She was quickly finding it to be harder than it seemed.

In her previous life, Celes had divided the people she interacted with into two groups: soldiers, and civilians. Soldiers were easy enough to talk to, she was one herself after all, but civilians could be tricky. Whenever she was forced to mingle with the more affluent ones at the numerous mandatory social functions she attended in Vector, she inevitably found herself drunk by the end of the evening.

But of course, she only indulged in drink to pass the time, and to avoid conversation with the kind of stuffy old rich people who held those social functions. The drink would bring out her melancholia, and she made sure to stand as far away from the rest of the attendees as possible, without being rude of course. Her dark moods in those later days served to keep people at a distance; no threats of violence required.

As she remembered those days, Celes grudgingly took another bite of her ration bar. Two-year old salted chocobo meat fried on a sun-baked rock, she figured, judging by the taste. Looking over at Terra, it was clear that the young woman was not enjoying the meal either.

She continued to watch Terra's face as the green haired girl took tiny bites from the bar, apparently hoping that the small bites wouldn't taste as bad as larger ones. It was rather cute, the general thought, before she shook her head and got her mind back on track.

Her experiences in Vector provided little insight, so the question remained: what do normal people talk about?

She knew she needed to avoid reminding the girl of her difficult past, so it would be necessary to keep the subject matter light and firmly rooted in the present.

"I like your hair..." Even as the half-whispered words came out of her mouth Celes couldn't believe she had said them. If only she could have a moment alone so she could bang her head against a tree or something. Her mind was clearly defective. _'I like your hair? Seriously, how old are you, Celes? Twelve?'_

So it was a surprise when Terra smiled, slightly embarrassed, but apparently pleased with the compliment. "Really?" she asked, brushing a few strands back behind her ears. "I usually tie it back, but I think the tie was lost when I transformed."

Celes had actually been referring more to the color, but now that she thought about it, she liked the way it was currently cascading down the woman's back. Her brow furrowed. "Do you -um - have any idea why something like that would happen?" It was tricky, talking to the girl about her transformation without asking the wrong questions and causing the conversation to grind to a halt.

The memories in Terra's mind were strange, and still very hard for the young girl to interpret. Some of the recollections felt alien to her, as if they belonged to someone else entirely. "I remember feeling as though I was burning up... perhaps I really was?" she offered.

"Oh..." Celes said quietly, still a little disappointed that Terra wouldn't explain the events that led up to her transformation, though, this little insight was certainly better than nothing. "Well, it looks good the way it is now. I mean," she added, still feeling horribly awkward, "it looks wild."

That got the younger girl to laugh. "Isn't _wild_ usually a bad thing?"

Celes smiled, remembering Fang's disheveled hair. Fang had been half wild-woman herself, and if she remembered correctly, her deceased friend's village was in the Veldt, which would certainly explain a few things about the woman's personality and appearance. Many in the army didn't appreciate it, but Celes had liked Fang's rough style. "Trust me, it isn't. I've been to a lot of social functions in Vector," and 'a lot' was an understatement; it seemed like every person of means in the city tried to outdo themselves by hosting the most lavish parties, all in a transparent effort to ingratiate themselves with the Emperor by impressing one of his favorite generals.

"And, well, my point is, women there would wear their hair up in the most elaborate and ridiculous hairstyles you could imagine, and then they would force themselves into the most elaborate and expensive dresses. It just felt so strange, standing around trying to make conversation with people dressed up like peacocks during mating season, all while trying to remember the hundreds of arbitrary social rules you had to know so you wouldn't accidentally offend someone. There's something to be said for simplicity, and for a more natural way of living, I guess. Besides, on the battlefield, you don't worry about your hair getting mussed up."

_'And besides, anyone who spends all day on their hair and clothes must live the dullest life imaginable,' _she mentally added.

Terra giggled. "No, I suppose you don't."

Yeah, Celes thought, she disliked the high-society of Vector. She felt they would be completely lost without their armies of servants to aid them. Soldiers were completely different: every single one of them had been trained to be self-reliant when the need arose. Stick a high-society woman in a forest and she'd probably scream... at least until she fainted.

Any sense of self-esteem built up by that train of thought was erased when Celes remembered how she had moaned and complained to herself while crossing the forest yesterday. _'Bugger me...' _she thought.

"Is something wrong?" Terra asked, scooting closer to the other woman.

Celes gulped and shook her head. Seeing Terra on the ground, moving closer to her, reminded her a little too much of their first meeting. "I... uh, prefer your hair the way it is..." she blurted out, wondering if all the knocks she had taken to the head today had given her permanent brain damage.

"I'll keep that in mind," Terra said softly, with a noticeable blush. "I -um - I suppose you normally wear yours like that?" she asked, referring to Celes' own hair, which she now noticed had a few twigs stuck in it.

"Yeah, simple, like I said," Celes replied, blushing a bit herself and scratching the back of her head, "it's usually not so dirty, of course. It's been ages since I had a shower..." _'Or a bath,' _she thought. She really didn't want to know what she must smell like right now.

"You've been out here for a while, haven't you?"

"Well, I've only been in the woods for a few days. Prior to that, I had to cross the Figaran desert."

"Oh, I remember that place..." When she had crossed that sandy expanse with Edgar and Locke several weeks ago, the blazing heat hadn't bothered her, but the constant wind and blowing sand was another matter. "Did you want to take a bath?"

Celes wanted nothing more, but her pride insisted that she shrug as if she didn't. "That water looks a bit too cold," she said, nodding at the pond.

Terra's eyes brightened. "Oh, but that's no problem at all!" The young girl jumped up and, keeping her cape closed tightly around her, walked quickly over to the small pond. Kneeling over the bank, she gently pressed a hand into the water. Under her breath, the woman began chanting something, but Celes had no idea what it might be.

Celes watched in surprise and growing amazement as a red light shone from the girl's hand and the entire pond began to steam up. She thought she even detected hints of the water boiling close to where Terra's hand was pressed into it. And not just that, but the air warmed all around her...

It was amazing, the power this woman had at her fingertips.

Satisfied, Terra removed her hand and stood back up. "All ready," she chirped. It was nice to be able to use her magic for something like this; something that made people happy, like this refreshing warm bath would make Celes happy. Her face grew red when she saw the older woman smiling at her. When Celes smiled, it didn't make her feel anything like she felt when Kefka smiled at her.

It actually made her feel kind of tingly inside.

"That was amazing," Celes said in awe. Maybe if she concentrated really hard, and the water was fairly cold, she could freeze the surface of this pond. But even on her best day it would probably drain her considerably. Terra looked as alive and alert as ever.

The young girl shook her head as she looked at her feet. "That was nothing. Now hurry up, the stream feeding the pond is cold; the water won't stay warm for very long."

Celes got up and began lifting up her shirt, only to stop when she noticed Terra staring at her back. The girl blushed again and turned around in a hurry. "Um... wash that too... I can dry it for you later."

Celes nodded. Being able to produce heat at will was a very useful gift indeed.

After quickly washing her clothes, and handing them over to Terra to dry (the handing over process being pretty awkward as well) both women were relieved when they seemed to reach an unspoken agreement not to talk again for the rest of the evening. As she bathed out of view behind the reeds, Celes wasn't sure if she could handle any more embarrassment tonight. And Terra, as she lay on the soft ground wrapping her borrowed cape tightly around herself, found herself thinking about Celes, and the shy smile the woman had given her.

* * *

><p>Next morning...<p>

...

Celes woke up to a very unusual feeling. She felt warm, very warm in fact, like she was back in her bed in Vector. But something was off... the surface beneath her was hard and nothing at all as pleasant as she felt everywhere else.

Then she heard breathing and felt a warm breath tickling her ear.

And there was something wrapped around her chest... an arm?

Her eyes snapped open. _'Something's got me!' _ Instinctively, she elbowed whatever it was and leapt to her feet, searching frantically for her sword.

"Oww!"

_'Oh gods... it was Terra.'_ The other girl sat up and was rubbing her side in apparent pain. Her cloak had fallen down, revealing her nakedness once again. "You were shivering," she said with a pout, the fog forming from her breath making it apparent just how cold it was this morning, "I was trying to keep you warm."

Celes wasn't even paying attention; she was too busy feeling completely mortified. "Gods... I am so, so sorry, Terra," she said, hand clapped over her eyes. Couldn't she go just twenty-four hours without embarrassing herself horribly in front of this woman? "I just - I mean - I wasn't expecting that, that's all."

As she continued to rub her side, and Celes continued to apologize profusely, Terra determined that, yes, maybe Celes was still kind of dangerous after all.

* * *

><p>Several dozen apologies later, Celes and Terra were again walking along the railroad tracks to Narshe. When she wasn't walking on the grass, the younger girl took to balancing on one rail to avoid the pain of stepping with her bare feet on the crushed stones that the tracks were laid on.<p>

As the hours passed, the terrain continued to rise gradually, and the weather grew increasingly chilly. Goose bumps were appearing on Celes' arms, though she noticed the other girl didn't seem to feel the cold at all.

Then the hairs on the former general's stood up, but it had nothing to do with the temperature. She stopped and took a look behind her. "Terra!" she cried, spying the tiniest hint of smoke in the distance, "It's a train!" Finally a way to Narshe!

Unfortunately, Celes then remembered that she still hadn't decided on a way to get on board, so she blurted out the first idea that came to mind, "Um... what if, while the train passes by, I hit one of the engineers with an ice spell and freeze him?"

Terra's nose wrinkled and she shook her head, "What good would _that_ do?"

"Uh," well, she hadn't actually gotten that far, "they might stop, to find out why it happened?" Yes, it sounded that stupid, even to her.

Terra laughed when Celes shook her own head and sighed. _'Time to think of something else...'_

Minutes later, a massive black locomotive pulling about fifty freight cars roared past them. And although they both tried to get the conductor's attention, the train gave no impression whatsoever that its crew had even seen them, not so much as a blare of its horn. _'And why should they care?'_ Celes thought, _'if a train stopped for every idiot that waved at it...' _

No, if she wanted to grab the crew's attention, she would need something big. But what?

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later...<p>

...

"No! I won't do it," Terra yelled, crossing her arms as she continued walking alongside the tracks, noticeably faster than before. She was so upset she didn't feel the pain as her feet angrily stamped on the crushed stones.

Celes had to sprint in order to catch her, and then grab the girl's hand to get her to stop. Surprisingly, Terra was really, really mad at her. It was actually rather frightening, and Celes _never_ got frightened. The former Imperial general found herself pleading as the other woman stared at her with furious blue eyes, "Come on, Terra, it's sure to work."

"I will _not_ burn down the forest just to stop a train!"

Normally, in this kind of situation Celes would simply use the force of her will to get people to obey her, but she was quickly discovering that this was impossible where Terra was concerned. And now that Terra was mad at her, Celes found she could hardly even look the young woman in the face. "Please, Terra? It's the best way to do it. They'll see the smoke, and while they might not stop, they should be cautious enough to slow down enough for us to find a way on."

Terra huffed. "No. Lots of creatures live in this forest. I won't destroy their homes just so we can get to Narshe a little faster."

"But the army-"

"_No_, Celes. I won't do it."

The general sighed in resignation. As she watched the other girl walk away, a thought struck her that perhaps the simplest way to get the train to stop might be to have Terra drop her cloak. Surely, that would get the engineer's attention?

Yeah, she thought, even as she stared at Terra's backside for a little too long, she wouldn't be sharing _that_ plan.

Sighing, Celes ran to catch up to Terra and dropped into step beside her. One couldn't simply just grab on to a train traveling at a hundred miles per hour, or even thirty miles per hour. On foot they might get to Narshe in maybe four or five weeks, unless, of course, the Imperial army marched along this same route. If that was the case, then Celes figured she had only a few days remaining before an inevitable and painful death.

Either way, Narshe was certainly doomed.

* * *

><p>Many hours later, just before sunset...<p>

...

It had been a long day, though not a completely unpleasant one. Celes estimated that in just the last ten hours they had covered roughly twenty-five miles along this route. Realistically, they were scarcely any closer to Narshe; the railroad here twisted and turned, and sometimes looped over itself, in order to climb the hilly terrain. Sometimes, the two women would take shortcuts over the ridges, but it usually turned out to not be worth the added effort.

Indeed, the land they traveled over was rugged, rocky, and heavily forested. The gentle grading of the railroad at least made the walk much more bearable.

The temperature was only getting more and more chilly however. Walking was keeping Celes warm enough for the moment, but tonight was going to be tough if they had to sleep outside again.

This time, the proud general thought she might even need to ask for Terra's help to keep her warm. She gulped involuntarily as she imagined that...

Terra, meanwhile, had been busy thinking about her own problems. All day her mind struggled with little success to remember what exactly had happened to her the previous morning. And it didn't help that sometimes she would see unfamiliar faces in her head: a strange half human, half wolf creature; a beautiful human woman with sad, blue-green eyes; a tall, winged woman with blue skin, horns, and a tail. She was almost certain she had never seen any of them before in her life.

It was too much to process, whatever it was. She wished there was some easy way to make sense of everything in her head.

As they slowly rounded a bend, Celes finally caught sight of something that could help them: a completely unremarkable white sign which read simply, "40."

_'Hey, I recognize this...' _ It was railroad speed limit sign. _'This could be good...' _though she still balked at the idea of trying to jump onto a train that was moving so quickly.

The reason for the sign became apparent when she saw a rather decrepit looking metal lattice bridge waiting for them about a mile further down the line. Those overhanging beams would make a suitable place to jump down from, she realized, and a plan began to form in her head.

The two women stopped just in front of the rusting old bridge. And just as they stopped, they both heard a distant blast of a horn coming from the south. Another train would be passing by in maybe fifteen minutes.

"Don't worry, Terra. I'll take care of this."

Terra looked at the metal supports that hung over the track and knew she wasn't going to like this. "Wait... what are you thinking?"

"See those steel struts up there?" Celes said while pointing them out. "When the train passes, I'll just drop down from there, and -"

"You could be killed!" Terra interrupted. And Celes titled her head at her in response. "Or... you could break a leg, or your neck, or _something_... and what good will_ that _do?"

Celes smiled, it was nice to know the other woman cared so much. "Trust me, Terra," she said, as she grabbed hold of the metal truss and began climbing, "I've done far more dangerous things when I was in the army."

"Can't we just jump onto the train together and ask them nicely to let us come along?"

Celes stopped climbing and shook her head. "We can't risk them saying no. With the Imperial army marching from the south, this might be the last train to Narshe for a long time."

"So how are you, _by yourself_, going to stop a train?" Terra asked, clearly annoyed.

"I've got this smoke bomb," she said, pulling something out of her coin purse and holding up what looked like a black hand grenade, "I throw this in the cab and either they stop, or in the confusion I find the emergency brake. Fighting them while the train is still moving puts everyone at greater risk." She wanted to lessen the likelihood of any civilians getting hurt and that meant stopping the train as quickly as possible.

"Why not just jump on one of the freight cars?"

"Because they might see us, and then we'd be forced to fight them. If I gain control of the engine, that gives us a tactical advantage."

"But I could at least go with you!"

Celes shook her head. "No." The young mage might be strong magically, but she looked much too fragile for what Celes had planned.

"So, what _am_ I supposed to do in this brilliant plan of yours?" Terra said, crossing her arms.

The older woman bit back a laugh at Terra's sarcasm. "Well..."

Terra didn't hide her sigh as the older woman explained her plan. Yes, it was dangerous, and that was bad, but she found herself more irritated by the way Celes was ordering her around.

Still, she eventually acquiesced but wasn't the least bit happy about it.

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later...<p>

...

For the first ten seconds or so at least, the plan went pretty much as Celes had imagined. As the train approached the bridge, it dutifully slowed to forty miles per hour, and its slower progress gave the former general a moment to assess the situation. She was in luck: on the leading engine there was a metal walkway that ran forward from the cab, around the boiler and smokestack, and then back down along the other side. This meant she wouldn't have to try landing directly on top of that massive cylindrical boiler and risk sliding off.

Making a silent prayer to any of the gods she hadn't ticked off yet, Celes dropped from the steel truss and made a perfect landing on that metal walkway.

For a second she remained there on all fours just as she had landed, shocked that she had timed her jump so perfectly. Then, scrambling to her feet, Celes steadied herself and threw her smoke bomb right through the open window of the cab.

Even the horribly loud noise of the steam engine didn't drown out the confused shouting from inside the train.

This, as she had explained to Terra earlier, was how the Great Doma Train Robbery had been committed. Two masked men jumped from a bridge, threw smoke bombs into the cab and forced everyone off the train.

"There," Celes said proudly, brushing her hair out of her face as it blew in wind, "now to look for the emergency brake." She managed exactly one step forward before a crossbow bolt flew past her head._ 'Ah, hell! Just my luck to pick an armed train!'_

"Stop her!" shouted an engineer from inside the smoke filled cab.

The general turned and dashed back along the metal walkway, placing herself behind the smokebox and smokestack. She was as far forward on this ride as she could get, and was now fully, if temporarily, out of sight of the irritated crew, but no closer to realizing her goal of getting the train to stop. Finding the emergency brake was now out of the question. It clearly wasn't located here and must be closer to the cab, she thought, but there was no way in hell she was going back out there to find out.

_'You've gotta stop this thing in a hurry, Celes!'_ Terra was counting on her.

She studied the massive engine in front of her. Like on practically every steam train she had ever seen, the boiler was absolutely colossal: a horizontal cylinder thirty, maybe forty, feet long between her and the cab. "A steam powered train..." she whispered to herself.

Her mind flashed back to the pond, and to what she had seen Terra do that night.

She placed her hands firmly on the cold metal. Deep inside this vast metal cylinder was something like ten thousand gallons of boiling water. A steam engine burned coal to produce heat that boiled water to create steam. The plan was very simple: stop the boiling, stop the train.

Taking a deep breath, Celes sought to clear her mind. Never in her life had she tried to affect the temperature of this much water before. She would need to concentrate. Hard.

In her mind she could picture the boiler, could see the many tubes inside through which passed the hot gasses that heated the water. Her hands glowed... the water molecules just needed to be calmed; she had done this a thousand times before, to the point where it just came naturally and required no thought. But this time there was just so much water, so much energy, so much movement inside that engine, she might as well have been trying to freeze the sun itself.

Still, she tried, and the water did cool... by what was surely a completely unnoticeable degree. It wasn't enough. She didn't have the power she needed; she didn't even have a _fraction_ of it...

In frustration, she slammed her hands against the cold, metal walls. It was no use. What was she thinking, trying to stop a train by herself? Celes supposed she could still take out the engineers, or maybe threaten their lives to force them to stop the train, pick up Terra, and then take them to Narshe, but Terra would surely hate her for it.

"Damn it all!" she rasped. The other woman was waiting for her up ahead; she would need to jump off soon if the train couldn't be stopped, and by the sound of it the train was actually gaining speed.

One last time, she pressed her hands against the black engine that thwarted her. This was it, she just needed to cool the water enough for the engineer to think there was a problem and stop the train. She needed to call upon all the power she possessed, even if the effort should drain her completely. Any hope of redemption depended on this moment.

The instant her hands began to glow again she felt a strange and unexpected calm come over her. Without warning, she was no longer in control of her own actions. The light from her hands increased to an almost blinding intensity as unbidden words came to her lips...

"Íss er árbörkr..." she was speaking the words in a voice that was not her own, and the language was completely alien to her. It was as if she was detached from her own body, she couldn't stop chanting, couldn't control her own limbs, she couldn't even move her eyes. In the highly polished metal cylinder in front of her Celes could see her own reflection, only her eyes... they were glowing!

Her eyes were shining blue, as if lit by a powerful source inside of her! She would have recoiled from the sight had she any control over herself.

An immense power suffused her entire being. She could feel ice magic flowing through her veins, like she was summoning a century's worth of blizzards in her two hands... yet it all felt somehow familiar, as though she had been born to do this. Meanwhile, her mouth, and that voice that was not her own, continued to chant the unfamiliar words, each syllable louder than the last.

"Ok unnar þak.

"Ok feigra manna fár!

"Glacies jöfurr!"

That soft feminine voice repeated the words in her mind, and this time Celes understood them, if not their significance, _'Ice is the bark of rivers, the roof of the waves, the destruction of the doomed.'_

Then she blacked out, even as her body continued to stand there, hands pressed against the now freezing cold steam engine.

_'You've stolen my power...' _the voice continued, with a sharper edge than before,_ 'what a horrible insult it is that you cannot even understand it, nor wield it properly.'_

And just as quickly as it appeared, the presence was gone. In a flash of pain that brought her back to her senses, Celes' eyes shot open.

In shock, she stumbled backwards, grabbing the forward handrail with one hand, and massaging her temple with the other. "What the hell was _that_?" she gasped. She remembered a voice. She remembered casting some unimaginably powerful spell... but what... how?

Regardless, once the formerly boiling water had been cooled, a confused engineer must have pulled the emergency brake, because Celes had to tighten her grip on the handrail to keep from falling off. When the train finally did stop, emitting a cacophony of screeches as it did so, she looked ahead and thought she saw Terra in the distance, waving at her. Exhausted, and feeling as if she might retch, she didn't notice the man who had snuck up behind her until the shovel he was carrying collided with the back of her head.

* * *

><p>Several hours later...<p>

...

Terra yawned as she stretched her arms out above her head. Traveling with the former Imperial general certainly wasn't boring, that was for sure. She was rather impulsive, and seemed to also have an unfortunate tendency to put herself in harm's way for Terra's benefit. In that respect, the older woman kind of reminded her of Locke.

And like that time she escaped through the caves with Locke, she deferred to her companion's greater experience, and did as she had ordered. All her life she had others making decisions for her, and it seemed that wasn't going to change any time soon.

So, despite the pain in her bare feet, she ran along the tracks as far as she could to give Celes enough time to stop the train. When that was finally accomplished, Terra found herself only a short sprint from the engine and saw for herself a man in dirty blue overalls as he hit the older woman with a shovel. _ 'That certainly hadn't been part of the plan,'_ she remembered thinking at the time.

What was supposed to happened afterwards, well, Celes said that depended on how well the crew took to having their train hijacked. All things considered, being a Figaran crew they took it quite well, but only after finding out that Terra was a Returner. A stroke of luck indeed, as they looked about ready to hang Celes.

She didn't see this one aspect as much of an improvement from her previous situation: instead of killing people for others, people were killing themselves for her, or because of her. Or nearly killing themselves, in her companion's case. At least the woman was finally beginning to stir. She had been out cold for hours now.

Celes found herself sprawled on a wooden floor. _'Wait, floor?' _she thought to herself. She heard and felt something rumbling, and the sounds of a whistle, and knew she must be inside a moving train car. There was a small feeling of pride in seeing her plan successfully fulfilled, but for some reason she couldn't remember talking to the crew, or getting inside this train car. That was strange...

Opening her eyes, she confirmed that, yes, she was lying on the floor of what she guessed was a boxcar, her green cape forming a pillow under her head. Terra was sitting next to her on a crate, looking down at her. "H - how did I get here?" Celes asked, her voice unusually raspy. Trying, and failing, to sit upright, she gave up and dropped her head back to the floor. She was still incredibly tired, and her head hurt like -

"When the train stopped, I asked one of the guards _nicely_ if we could board."

Terra sounded awfully annoyed at her, Celes thought. "How d-"

"The train had a Returner agent on board. He vouched for me," Terra said, anticipating the question. According to the agent, Banon had immediately sent search parties north, south, east and west after their newest recruit had transformed and flown away.

It was then that the groggy general noticed Terra was actually wearing clothes; a red shirt over some rather baggy looking trousers. She looked like a Nikean arms dealer in that getup. "Um... why aren't you -"

"Naked?" Terra interrupted again. "A merchant on board sold me some clothing," real cheap too, she thought. Hiding itself under the desert, Figaro Castle wasn't going to be much of a market for goods any time soon, the man had told her.

"But -"

"I told the agent you had urgent information for Banon about the impending attack on Narshe. And that you only attacked the train because you wanted them to stop and listen to us, and that we had no other option."

Celes' mouth opened, but Terra again interrupted her before she could speak, "I also may have bribed the conductor with the money you kept in your purse."

_'Oh...' _she thought,"Wait! I had fifty Jidooran sovereigns in there!"

Terra shrugged. "Would you rather be broke or dead?"

The young woman was still looking at Celes like the blonde woman was the biggest idiot ever, but Celes didn't care. They were finally on their way to Narshe. "You know, in Jidoor they would definitely choose the latter option," the blonde said with a chuckle.

The expression on Terra's face made it clear she didn't understand the joke.

The train kept rumbling on, and it seemed to both women that they were moving very quickly now.

"So..." Celes began, hoping to end this conversational lull, "Um... they carried me in here?"

Terra scoffed. "No, _I_ did. I'm stronger than I look, you know? Next time, don't be so stubborn and let me help you!" she said, clearly exasperated, though she never once raised her voice.

Celes nodded in defeat. The girl was right, of course. "Sorry," she muttered.

Terra rolled her eyes, it was almost absurd seeing the former general looking liked a scolded child. "I haven't decided if I'll forgive you or not," she replied, crossing her arms and looking away, yet not completely able to keep herself from smiling.

Celes' eyes brightened a bit with the knowledge that Terra was _not_ going to hate her forever. "I mean it though," she said seriously, "I really am sorry. I had no right to dismiss your help like that, or to tell you not to follow me." A pause, "Do they have ranks in the Returners?"

Terra was thrown by the unexpected question. "Yes, but I don't have a rank. I'm a special case." Something that had been true all her life, she noted sadly.

"Well, I have no rank at all anymore. You should really be the one giving orders here."

Terra shook her head. She didn't care about ranks or orders, she just wanted to be treated like an equal, and she didn't want good people risking their lives on her behalf, no matter how important she supposedly was. "Go to sleep," she said finally. She was tired of this particular conversation.

"Yes, ma'am," the older girl said with a yawn. The back of her head hurt like hell for some reason but she couldn't work up the energy to move, so she simply crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes. The boxcar may have been cold, noisy, and bumpy, and may also have had the world's most uncomfortable floor, but it was a nice change from sleeping outdoors with the insects and the variable weather conditions.

In no time at all, the rhythmic sounds and motions of the train lulled the exhausted warrior to sleep.

* * *

><p>Next chapter: The two women finally arrive in Narshe, where Celes meets the rest of the Returners.<p>

* * *

><p>AN - Sorry this took so long to update. The chapters just seem to get longer and longer :(<p>

The lines that "Celes" speaks are from the Icelandic Rune Poem, specifically the poem concerning the isaz, or ice rune. What happened to Celes during that scene? Who was that speaking through her? Well, you'll find out soon enough :)

And special thanks to Bill Nye the Science Guy for reminding me of how heat works. However, any errors regarding the functioning of steam engines are entirely my own.


	4. Two Raging Madmen

AN - Sorry for the long wait. I had a slight case of writer's block and decided to work on a different fic for a while to get me out of it. :(

I should mention that any attempt by me to recreate Cyan's pseudo old-fashioned way of speaking from the game would be painful both for you to read, and for me to write. Hence, Cyan will not be saying "thou" at any point in this story. (:

* * *

><p>"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr<p>

Chapter 4: "Two Raging Madmen"

...

"With this raging madman

I won't waste my breath."

-Geronimo and the Count from Cimarosa's_ 'Il Matrimonio Segreto'__  
><em>

...

Two days later. The city of Narshe, roughly two hours after sunrise...

...

"Don't tell me _you're_ afraid?" Terra asked as she looked down upon the city. Despite the time of day, Narshe was still shadowed by the tall mountains rising steeply in the east.

"I'd just -" Celes paused, adjusting the hood of her coat to cover more of her face, "I'd rather we not get caught, that's all. It would be embarrassing."

The younger woman could only nod at that bit of understatement. Her mind easily cast a vivid picture of what would follow if they got caught now: Celes getting angry and fighting off the guards, followed by more guards she would need to fend off, followed by _even more _guards... it was a cycle that would likely end with the city in ruins.

Keeping Celes calm would be important.

Terra crossed her fingers but made sure to keep them in her coat pockets. She actually wasn't cold at all, but walking around Narshe without a coat would attract a lot of attention. "We should be fine," she assured her friend.

The final leg of their journey lay before them, and fortunately this leg was less than a hundred yards long. In front of the two women was a disused and decaying wooden bridge. As it descended from the mouth of the cave into the city, the footbridge ran over the roofs of several houses and over a wide stone street before ending directly behind the home of Arvis, the head of the Returners in Narshe. Locke had once told her that his house had formerly been a mining company office and that the bridge had allowed workers access to the many walled-off mineshafts in the western caves.

Celes scoffed as she took in the view, though she kept her voice down, "So, why _did_ we take a long trip through that cave instead of just going through the front gate like normal people?"

It was a struggle to come up with an answer that would dampen her friend's concerns, but in the end nothing came to mind. So instead she went with distracting humor, "Um... because caves are pretty?"

Deep beneath that hood, Terra's eyes caught a flash of a toothy grin.

Still, her friend did have a right to be nervous. Terra had expected to see Returner soldiers on the city battlements preparing for the Empire's invasion, but no, there were only Narshean guards to be seen. She had briefly considered trying to go through the gate regardless, but what if the guards recognized her or her infamous companion?

That could be bad. _Very_ bad. Surely it was safer to go through the caves? That's what the Returner agent on the train had suggested she do, at least.

So, that's what they did, keeping quiet all the while lest the Narsheans were scouting the place. Celes looked like she had a million questions on her mind, but fortunately she didn't voice them. Terra was so very tired of keeping secrets from the woman. No only did she hate lying, and lying to Celes especially, but she was also quickly discovering that she wasn't cut out for keeping secrets in the first place.

Thankfully, the woman never tried to push her on anything nor had she ever tried to force an answer out of her. Still, Terra wasn't oblivious to the subtle tics Celes' face made whenever she lied to her.

If her facial cues were any indication, the older woman knew when Terra was lying exactly one-hundred percent of the time.

Once Celes was accepted by the Returners, Terra thought and hoped that _then_ she could finally tell her everything.

Now, as both women looked the entire city over, Terra wondered, if Banon really was still in Narshe as the Returner agent had insisted, then where were all the Returner soldiers?

Terra kept those thoughts to herself too, but she was getting worried.

Narshe was unusually noisy for this time of day and its streets unusually filled with people. Despite all the vast amounts of rising steam that obscured much of the view, Terra could easily hear and sometimes catch a glimpse of the people down below rushing around, carrying their suitcases, their furniture, _their children, _all in what appeared to be a mad dash to evacuate the city as quickly as possible.

Celes let out a sigh, apparently thinking along the exact same lines, "It looks like everyone already knows the Empire is on its way here. There goes my big scene..."

Terra felt completely lost, "Scene?"

"I had it all planned out," she said, gesturing grandly with her right hand as if she were describing the scene to a stage director, "I'd burst through the door, interrupt the mayor's meeting at a crucial moment, and exclaim that the Empire is marching for Narshe as we speak. The men in the room would despair, they would rant and rave when they discover my identity, but eventually they would come to see me as their only hope for salvation."

Terra felt incredulous. She wanted to laugh but wasn't sure if she was supposed to.

The general chuckled and shrugged at the expression on the other woman's face. "I attended a lot of plays back home; they gave me an appreciation for the dramatic."

"Like jumping onto moving trains?" Terra asked. She had long since forgiven Celes over the train incident, at least partially because the woman would _not_ stop apologizing for it.

"Exactly," the older woman said with a lopsided smile.

"I've never been to anything like that."

The smile disappeared. "You've never seen a play, or been to an opera?"

Terra shook her head. She was never let out of the capitol complex, not without an armed guard. And when she _was_ let out, well, it certainly wasn't to do anything pleasant.

Celes briefly placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "I'll take you to an opera sometime, when the war is over. I'll even translate it for you."

Terra had not the slightest idea what an opera was, or why it needed to be translated, but she agreed anyway. After watching Celes continue to stand there watching the city below, she asked, "Um... You're not worried about how Banon and the rest of them will react, are you?"

The older woman looked nonchalant, but Terra had the feeling it was at least partially an act.

"Should I be?"

Terra shook her head again. "I think what will really end up happening will be substantially more awkward than dramatic." And that was a certainty. She didn't exactly relish the idea of having to tell everyone the story of how she flew naked over the mountains until nearly crashing into a former general of the Empire.

Still, she felt worse for Celes...

Her friend nodded. "Yes. It _is_ a shame," she drawled.

"Don't worry about Banon and the others. They're good people, they'll listen to you."

"So, they'll give me a trial before they hang me, is what you're saying..."

It took a moment before Terra realized that the comment was intended to be humorous, "I'm being serious."

Celes nodded, all humor disappearing from her expression, "I know you are."

"I won't let any harm come to you."

Celes opened her mouth and then closed it without a word. For a moment, Terra wondered if she had said something wrong.

"Come on," Celes said softly, eyes darting ahead, "we've got to cross this bridge, right?"

...

Steeling herself, Terra rapped her knuckles sharply against the large wooden door. Immediately, the small slot in the door slid open to reveal two beady eyes. The fire mage shirked back in surprise. "Um... hi!" she blurted out, feeling like a fool the second the words left her mouth.

The eyes behind the door narrowed and the slot snapped shut.

The two women waited. The wind continued to howl and snow blew into their faces, but the door remained closed.

"Did we need to know the secret password?" Celes asked.

"Password?" Terra repeated to herself. Had Banon given her a code to remember? She wasn't so sure now; it was hard to trust her memory.

"You know," Celes continued, "something like _'the fat chocobo walks at midnight'_?"

Terra shook her head, but smiled. "I think I would've remembered something like _that_."

Without warning, the door swung violently open. Terra found herself being pulled back just in time to avoid getting hit by it.

The next thing she knew, she was on the ground staring up at a helmeted man in brown armor training a rifle at her.

He looked through the sight of his rifle, aiming it next at Celes who was showing a remarkable amount of restraint, and then back at Terra. "And who might you two be?"

Well, she thought, at least it was a Returner soldier pointing a gun at her. "Um... I'm Terra."

"Terra!"

To her very great surprise, the soldier was shoved out of the way to reveal Arvis, the man who had rescued her from the caves so many weeks ago.

...

The smiling man beckoned them both to come in and warm themselves by the fire. Celes, at least, seemed grateful for the opportunity as she stood in front of the mantel and rubbed her hands together vigorously.

For her part, Terra was happy to be back in the home of this very kind man. To her, this was the place where her life had truly begun.

"So," Arvis began as he offered them both a warm glass of tea, "might I ask who your friend is?"

"This is Celes," Terra said, pausing for a moment, Arvis evidently did not recognize her face, "Celes Chère."

Arvis' eyes widened considerably. "Celes Chère, _the Imperial general_?"

The older woman looked up from the fire and nodded. "I came here to warn Narshe of an impending Imperial attack," she said, continuing to rub her hands.

If Arvis was surprised at the idea, his face didn't show it. "I'm afraid you're a bit late for that."

"So I noticed," Celes said with a tiny shrug. "Still, I wish to offer my services to the Returners. Together, we might have a chance to stop them."

Arvis seemed to regard that for a moment. He looked at Terra, and apparently Terra's presence was enough to convince him that Celes was trustworthy. "That would be ideal," he said, scratching at the stubble on his chin, "but our army is camped two miles to the south. The mayor has refused to let them through the city gates."

Both women looked surprised, one substantially more than the other. "And why the hell not?" Celes demanded.

Arvis appeared to flinch slightly at her tone, "The mayor is still insisting upon neutrality."

The general rolled her eyes, "What does he hope to do? Politely ask the Empire not to invade?"

The old man shook his head. "Banon believes they will give the Empire what they want."

"And what does the Empire want?" Celes asked, brow furrowed.

Arvis and Terra looked at each other, but neither of them answered.

Celes looked like she was holding back the mother of all sighs. "Fine... fine. Forget I asked."

"Rest assured that what the Empire wants cannot be allowed to fall into its hands. Alas, I fear the mayor will sacrifice almost anything to avoid a war."

"The fool," Celes muttered, rubbing her forehead. "We should go and talk some sense into him."

Arvis looked Terra in the eye and smiled. She hoped that meant he approved of her new friend. "A fine idea," he said. "Let me grab my coat."

...

Celes and Arvis looked on as Terra stood staring at the front door to the mayor's house. The three of them had been standing there for some time now.

Celes glanced at the old man who's only response was a confused shrug.

Finally, and with an unconcealed sigh, the young mage finally opened the door. They entered to the sounds of Terra's name being called in surprise. Evidently, Celes thought, Terra was well loved by the Returners.

Inside this expansive front room stood two men: one was absolutely huge, and as muscular as a body-builder; the other was a tall, middle-aged soldier dressed entirely in black armor... it was armor that Celes thought she had seen somewhere before. Behind those men was a large desk where two elderly men sat alongside a young blonde haired man dressed in blue armor with a fine silk cape. She recognized this younger man as Edgar Roni Figaro. His portrait hung in the Imperial Palace.

A quick glance over at the roaring fireplace revealed yet another man, or boy rather, sleeping on a bearskin rug. Strangely, his hair was green, just like Terra's. She indicated the boy with her chin, but Terra only shrugged in response when she finally noticed him. No relation, Celes assumed.

"Terra!" It was the old man with the substantially longer beard who got up and walked over to her. It seemed to Celes that he was genuinely relieved to see her. His eyes went distinctly watery as he gave her a hug.

"That's Banon," Arvis whispered.

The former general's eyes widened. _'This is Banon?'_ She had expected perhaps a charismatic young revolutionary, or a grizzled old veteran of many wars, not this kindly old gentleman who was now staring curiously back at her. Though now that she had a closer look, she could see signs that he had once been a warrior in his youth.

"And who is this?" the old man asked.

Terra was about to answer, but Celes beat her to it, "Celes Chère. _Former_ general of the Empire," she said, nodding her head in deference.

Banon looked truly astonished, but it was the dark haired soldier who spoke next. "I KNEW I recognized her!" he shouted. "Sir Banon, step aside! This woman is single-handedly responsible for the decimation of Maranda!" In a flash, the man had unsheathed the katana he kept at his side and pointed it directly at her.

Instinctively, Celes' hand reached for her own sword.

"No!" Terra cried, stepping in between the two of them and coming within inches of the point of Cyan's blade. In defiance, she glared up at him. It was a truly a sight to behold. The level of her eyes didn't even reach the tall man's chin.

This was clearly the last thing the knight expected. "Step aside, young lady," he demanded, though he strained to be polite in spite of his wrath.

Terra raised her left arm out in front of her and summoned a powerful flame that engulfed it from hand to elbow. "She is here to join us," she stated softly, yet firmly, as the flame crackled and danced between them, "You will _not_ harm her!"

Celes stood there, mouth agape. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Everyone else in the room seemed to take a nervous step back. The flame was almost unbearably hot, yet Terra and her arm seemed completely immune to the heat of it.

She worried about the ceiling though...

The knight gulped and was visibly sweating from both the heat and his own rage, but he remained the only other person to stand his ground. "Be that as it may..."

"If Narshe is to survive... if _any of us_ are to survive, we will need her help."

The looming man scoffed but did not advance.

_'This is absolutely incredible,'_ Celes thought. Did Terra really believe in her that much? The sight of the young woman standing up for her was something she would never forget for as long as she lived.

The old soldier and the young mage stared at each other for a long moment before the man eventually relented. Terra let the fire in her hand die only when the knight had returned his sword to its scabbard.

Banon's voice dispelled the awkward silence, "Allow me to introduce Cyan Garamonde... of Doma."

_'Doma...' _Celes suddenly felt sick. She knew what Kefka had planned for that nation.

"W- what is the meaning of this, Banon?" The knight demanded, not taking his eyes off of Terra, "Is this woman a rebel magitek knight?"

"No," the Returner leader replied, himself in awe over what he had just seen. "Terra was born with magic."

Terra's face looked flushed. Evidently, she did not like being the center of so much attention. "_I_ am a magitek knight," Celes said, stepping out from behind her young protector.

"You..." the outraged man looked ready to advance again, but that nearly lethal glare of Terra's had him frozen to his spot.

When Cyan reluctantly stepped back, the young girl finally turned away. "I was also with the Empire once," she said sadly.

The knight sputtered, looking around at the others in the room as if wondering why they all weren't as horrified as he was, "Th – this is intolerable!"

It was Edgar who spoke next, looking down at the table as he did, "The Empire is evil, but that doesn't mean all of its citizens are." At that moment Celes thought that perhaps she had misjudged Figaro's king after all. Everything she had heard suggested that the king of Figaro spent most of his days chasing women.

Cyan only shook his head and turned his back to them all.

Then the man who looked like a body builder spoke up, "Forgive my friend," he began quietly, his voice surprisingly soft, "I'm Sabin, by the way," he said, staring serenely at Celes. She liked him already. "I'm Edgar's younger brother. Cyan is - or rather, _was_ – the Retainer of Doma. Kefka poisoned the castle's water supply. He was the only the survivor."

Staring now at the fire as he was, Celes could see the proud knight's face grew pale. The anguish he was carrying inside was unmistakable. To lose everyone you loved... well, Celes knew how that felt. Despite the way Cyan had treated her, she considered herself honor bound to speak up, "I knew of Kefka's plan. It was part of the reason I defected."

Cyan's eyes widened for a moment, but he shook his head again. It was abundantly clear that he wasn't about to believe a word she said.

"And the other reason you defected?" Banon inquired.

The magitek knight sighed, "It's personal..." No one looked satisfied with that answer, so she reluctantly continued, "I recently learned that Kefka was responsible for the deaths of some of my troops. I was in South Figaro to find and kill him." Unfortunately, she had arrived too late; the mad clown had left for Doma over a week beforehand.

Edgar spoke up again, "Kefka is a madman. I'm sorry for your loss."

Celes could only stare at the floor; the last thing she wanted was anyone's pity. As a result, she never saw the ashen look on Terra's face at that moment.

Cyan spoke up again, "And why should we trust her?"

The room went quiet. _ 'Oh, up yours, Garamonde,'_ was Celes' unspoken reply, but out of the corner of her eye she could see Terra's little hands balling up into fists again. _'This should be good,'_ she thought.

Terra again stepped forward, staring at the older man across the room. "Celes rescued me. When that esper transformed me, I chanced across her in the forest. She changed me back and helped lead me back here. She saved my life!"

"An esper?" Celes said in amazement. "That's what transformed you?"

The young mage looked over her shoulder and nodded sadly. "It also killed the two Imperial soldiers who accompanied me, the first time I came here, under Kefka's orders."

"_Kefka's_ orders?" the knight bellowed. Suddenly, the room roared with the sounds of a dozen people shouting at once.

'_An esper,'_ Celes thought as she watched Banon, Sabin and Arvis try to calm the old soldier down, _'so that's what this is all about...'_

She had never seen one before... or rather, she had never seen one fully _alive_ before. As far as she knew, all living espers were kept inside the Empire's Magitek Research Facility. But despite the fact that her surrogate father worked there, the only time she had ever been inside that sprawling complex was when she was five-years-old. That was the day she had been infused with magic, though she remembered almost nothing about the experience.

During their magitek training, all young knights-to-be had been shown photographs of espers, but the only one Celes had ever seen first-hand was a dolphin looking creature that had been fully drained of its magical energy. Espers had always been described as rare, mindless beasts with immense magical power. Only the most powerful magitek knights were sent to capture them. Kefka was one such knight, and apparently Terra was sent on such missions as well.

Celes looked around the room for the young woman forgotten as the argument raged around them. She found her now leaning against the wall by the front door, as far away from Cyan and the other bickering men as possible. She was looking sullenly at the floor.

"Hey," Celes said softly, standing between Terra and her still arguing friends, "I'm sorry I sounded so surprised."

Terra shrugged, refusing to meet her eyes. "At least you know now."

"True." Still, Celes knew she should've been more tactful."So, Kefka sent you here to look for this esper?"

"Yes, but I had a slave crown on my head, so like I told you, I don't remember much about what happened. Most of what I do know came from Arvis, the man who found me afterwards. He told me how two soldiers and I had burst through the town riding magitek armor, and when the dust was cleared all he found was me, unconscious next to the frozen esper. You know what happened after that..."

Celes nodded. Terra had told her all about their flight from Narshe to the Returner base east of the Kingdom of Figaro. "I see. But after you joined the Returners and came back here... what happened then?"

The girl sighed. "Banon, Locke, Edgar and I went to the mines a few days after we got here. The esper seemed to... react... to my presence. There was a bright light and I could feel something like fire magic burning in my veins. I screamed, transformed into the creature you saw, and the next thing I knew I was flying through the air..."

It was only when Banon appeared next to them that either woman realized that the argument occupying the rest of the room had ended. The only sound to be heard now was the blowing of the wind outside, and the sound of wood burning and crackling in the fireplace. "Indeed," the old man said, smiling at Terra who finally looked up, "I saw the transformation first hand. Never in my life have I seen anything like it. But," he began, switching his focus to Celes, "how did you change her back?"

"I have the ability to absorb magical energy through my runic blade," she began, patting the hilt of the weapon she kept at her side. She told the man everything about her first encounter with Terra, leaving out only the part where she had gotten very sexually aroused. He_ really_ didn't need to know about that. And Terra might faint if she found out.

When she was done, Banon seemed no less confused than before. Celes honestly couldn't blame him.

She struggled to come up with an explanation for what had happened as she eyed Terra with concern, "Perhaps the esper polymorphed you? Turned you into some kind of creature..." But even as she said the words, she wasn't sure she believed them. Certainly, there were wild beasts out there with the ability to do just that, but usually they turned their targets into imps, or toads or something equally harmless. What in the world had Terra been transformed into?

"Could an esper really cast a spell while frozen in a block of ice?"

"I don't know, to be honest," Celes admitted, frowning a little, "I've never actually seen one alive before." Terra looked a little deflated by that revelation. "Hey," she said, gently lifting the young woman's chin with her hand, "I promised I'd help you figure this all out, and I meant it."

That got a tiny smile out of her, at least.

Banon continued with his questions, "You've never seen one alive?"

"No. Any espers the Empire had captured were brought to the Magitek Research Facility, and I was never assigned, or even trained, to find and catch them."

"But Kefka was..." Banon thought out loud.

"And you, Terra?"

The girl shook her head, "I don't remember ever being trained to do something like that."

Celes could sense Terra's rising heart-rate. The idea of hunting espers clearly horrified her for some reason.

The old man turned to the young woman. "What is the most recent thing you remember about your time with the Empire?"

The girl shivered. She looked a lot younger than her eighteen years at that moment, "I remember being strapped to a metal table - " Celes found her mouth going dry as Terra began her story, she already hated where it was going. "- and these men in yellow coats were sticking needles in me. They took samples of my blood, I think..."

Terra's eyes were watering as she recounted the memory. She recalled having experiments run on her, samples taken from her body, and worst of all were the memories of waking up in her little room, only to have the slave crown placed on her head almost immediately. Then she wouldn't remember a thing until the crown was removed and she was locked back in her room at the end of the day. Sometimes, to her horror, she would awaken to the sight of blood on her hands.

Before she knew what she was doing, Celes was hugging the young girl. Terra wasn't crying, but Celes felt like _she_ was about to.

With her eyes she pleaded for Banon to stop with the questions.

The man gulped, "Quite right, Celes, quite right." He patted Terra's shoulder, "I am sorry. Now is certainly not the time." Terra could only nod as the man left her and Celes alone.

After a minute, the older woman finally let her go. "You o.k.?" she asked in a whisper.

The girl nodded again, but the way she hugged herself so tightly suggested otherwise.

"We'll figure it out," Celes added, keeping her voice low. "I swear it." Terra only continued to stare miserably at the floor.

Banon had returned to his desk, but he did not sit down. Instead, he addressed the entire room, "The Returners are made up of people from a hundred different tribes and nations. They come from places as far afield as Maranda and Kohlingen," he said, "And yes, some of them even come from Vector. But all of us are united in our common goal: the destruction of the Empire and the beginning of a new age where everyone can live side by side in peace."

Celes considered it. In the end, Banon's goal was the same as the Gestahl's stated goal: unite the world to bring peace. There were still a lot of unanswered questions about how that goal would be achieved, but now was hardly the time to ask them. Today there was a battle to prepare for. She bowed her head, "I'll do whatever you ask of me."

Again Cyan objected, "Surely, you cannot trust her, Banon. A knight who would betray her lord... it's unthinkable!"

Celes couldn't stop herself from responding, "Are you saying I should've continued serving Gestahl after everything he has done?"

"If you can no longer serve your master honorably then nothing remains but death."

"Cyan..." Sabin interrupted, but the knight kept right on talking.

"In Doma, if a man is unable to continue serving his lord, he would make a deep cut in his stomach and then bandage the wound. Then he would appear before his lord, explaining why he cannot continue to serve and then reveal the would, tearing it open and pulling out his own bowels if necessary."

Half of the people in the room looked ill. "What a barbaric practice!" Celes shouted. _'Of all the backward-ass things to -'_

"Better to die than to live your life without purpose and without honor," Cyan concluded, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall.

Celes huffed. Talking to this man was impossible.

At least, she thought, the other people in the room didn't seem agree with him.

Cyan continued to glare at both women from across the room. Inwardly, Celes seethed. She would not see Terra hurt just because some knight from a backwater kingdom hated the powerful men who had previously controlled her life. Still, yelling at him had accomplished nothing.

And then, another young man, dressed in a heavy coat and with a red bandana over his forehead, burst into the room. He stopped in surprise and looked around at all the unfamiliar faces, and in particular the sight of a very tall, enraged looking man in heavy black armor. "So," he began, scratching the back of his neck nervously, "what did I miss?"

"Nothing important, Locke," Edgar said, smiling from his seat.

"Who are all these pe-"

Banon held up a hand, silencing him, "We can discuss that later. Do you have news from the south?"

The young man tensed but nodded and handed Banon a sealed roll of paper.

Banon rubbed his temple as he read, "It appears the Imperial Army is being led by Field Marshall Palazzo."

Celes, whose eyes were still on Terra, noticed how the girl's face seemed to lose all color. _ 'Kefka...'_

* * *

><p>Later that day, after sunset...<p>

...

She had been standing there for over an hour. Finally free to roam the city as she wished, Celes had seen many cave openings high up on the cliffs that encircled the city on three sides. It had taken her a while, but after a bit of exploring she was able to find this opening. Now she had a commanding view of all of Narshe, including the plains to the south, as well as some time to herself.

She really needed to think.

So there she stood, arms crossed as the escaping wind from the cave blew her hair all around. In her mind she came up with numerous possibilities for how the upcoming battle would proceed.

Kefka, for all the fear the mere mention of his name instilled in most people, was a fool. Most likely, he would rush into the city, taking no time to scout ahead. Doubtless, he would head straight for the caves. Perhaps he would try to interrogate any citizens he captured, but if Celes' plan was followed he would never get the chance. She wanted everyone to be spared that particular torture. That was part of the reason Celes wanted everyone out of the city tonight.

At its current rate of progress, the Imperial Army would arrive by tomorrow afternoon.

"_Field Marshall _Kefka Palazzo..." she muttered. When had he earned _that_ rank? After killing everyone in Doma Castle, perhaps? _'Hah.' _ The man should be working at a toll booth as far as she was concerned. The Imperial hierarchy must really be desperate to get that esper if they were sending the least sane man in the Empire to do it.

The former general sighed. A living esper... it was still hard to believe.

As badly as she wanted to see that frozen creature for herself, she knew that the Returners didn't trust her enough to let her anywhere near the thing. All Celes did know was that it was hidden on the other side of the mountain, accessible only through an extensive network of caves.

The Returner Army would guard the only approach to the esper, and the upcoming battle would decide whether she would ever get to see it.

Narshe was nearly dark now. The street-lamps had been extinguished, and she watched as the few people left in town evacuated their homes and headed for shelter in the caves to the east. Celes dearly hoped they would have homes to return to once the battle was over.

Already, with the steam heat shut off and the ever-present winds blowing snow into the valley, Narshe was beginning to look like a ghost town. The more abandoned the place appeared to be, the more likely Kefka wouldn't bother torching it. Or at least, that's what she had been told everyone at the strategy meeting earlier today.

Hopefully, after the battle was over she would be an official member of the Returners.

And hopefully, they wouldn't decide to execute her for her crimes against Maranda.

But, she thought as she sighed, for the moment at least, everything was going exactly as planned...

...

Terra silently groused to herself. She had seen Celes standing at the edge of a cave opening far above Narshe on the western cliff face. She supposed the former general had gone up there to think. She also supposed that she should've let her do that in peace. What she couldn't figure out was why she was now in those very same caves, trying to find the woman.

_'It's just because I'm bored.' _ That's what she kept telling herself anyway, though her brain kept nagging her about the other possible reasons. Celes was kind to her, and she understood her better than anyone else she had ever met.

Terra _liked_ being around her.

She held her left hand out in front of her. In that palm she had summoned a flame to light the way. Terra found that as she played with her recently enhanced powers, she could adjust the intensity of the flame to a extent she hadn't dreamed of before. With just a thought, she could take it from a deep, relatively cold red-umber color, to a bright blue flame that felt hot even to her heat resistant skin.

It was strange; ever since her transformation, she just didn't feel differences in temperature the same way she used to. Her body had always been at least a little resistant to cold and heat, but now she felt like she could stand out in the middle of Narshe's frozen streets naked and not feel anything.

Not that she would want to...

Flying around naked had been mortifying enough. Or, at least it had been in retrospect.

Still, it was curious that Celes, a mage so powerful she could stop an entire steam train by freezing its engine, seemed to feel the cold as keenly as any normal person would.

But then, Celes _was_ normal and Terra was not.

Finally, she found her.

Terra stared at the unaware woman, her body lit by the moon just beginning to wane overhead. The way Celes stood there deep in thought made Terra think of a statue carved entirely from ice. There were statues like that in front of the Imperial palace, kept frozen through magical means. In fact, one of them was of a winged warrior woman, some god or hero from ancient mythology. That was the statue she could see from the barred window of her room.

As she stood there, she wondered if Celes had been the model for that statue. She figured it was appropriate; Celes _did_ look like something out of mythology: proud, strong, beautiful, with bright piercing eyes that seemed to see right through Terra and her clumsy attempts to keep the truth from her.

Though she couldn't imagine the statue in Vector furrowing its brow, shaking its head, or grumbling to herself as Celes seemed to do so frequently.

The woman in question huffed, and tightened her coat around herself.

...

"Are you always like this?" came a familiar voice from behind her.

Celes continued to stare at the city below, she had a feeling that Terra had been nearby, "Like what, Terra?"

"Broody."

The former general huffed and crossed her arms, "I am _not_ broody."

"O.k. you're _not_ brooding," Terra corrected, walking up to stand alongside the older woman and gaze down at the abandoned city. "You're standing up here alone, worrying about the coming battle and whether or not the Returner soldiers you've been put in charge of will stab you in the back. Do I have that right?"

"Hmmph... You can read minds too?"

"Not really, but you brood all the time, so it was a reasonable guess."

Celes opened her mouth, then shut it again. "I- I do _not_... I'm just..." she struggled for the right word, "_ruminating._"

It was Terra's turn to huff and cross her arms. They stood like that, staring at each other for a moment.

Finally, Celes asked, "I don't really look like I'm brooding all the time, do I?"

Terra couldn't hide her amusement, "Sometimes," she admitted. It was more like 'always' actually, but she didn't want to upset Celes too much.

The other woman grumbled as she rubbed the back of her head. Finally, she elected to just change the subject entirely, "So, your memory is still rebuilding itself?"

"Yes. There is a lot about my life that I have no memory of at all..."

The older woman asked the question before she could stop herself, "But... you're not hiding anything from me now?"

Terra smiled a little and shook her head.

Again, there was silence except for the sound of the howling wind.

"Can I ask _you_ something?"

"Whatever you like."

"Is it possible for you to love other people?"

Celes felt almost scandalized. In the Empire she had a reputation for being cold and unfeeling, a reputation that she felt she did not deserve; did Terra think that way about her too? "Are you _mocking_ me?"

Terra blushed a deep crimson at Celes' insulted tone, "N - no. I meant..." she paused for a moment, "You're different from everyone else here. I thought you would understand." Deflated, and convinced she had made a fool of herself, she turned to leave.

The older woman calmed somewhat when she realized that the question hadn't really been about her, at least not exactly. "Terra, wait. What did you mean? Understand what?"

The young woman stopped, arms hanging limply at her sides. She stared into the emptiness of the cave and the sight made Celes' heart ache. "It's just - I've always felt different from other people, like I'm not truly human."

Celes' stomach dropped. As a magitek knight she had always felt like she was different from normal people, but she couldn't imagine feeling so alienated from the rest of humanity as to say something like that. Did the girl really think she could never feel love? Placing a hand gently on the girl's bare shoulder, she tried to sooth her, "You look human to me," she said with a little smile.

Terra didn't notice it, thought she did notice how calloused the woman's hand was as it absently rubbed her shoulder. The sensation did strange things to her stomach. Was that something related to magic, perhaps? "I wasn't so human looking a few days ago..."

_'No,'_ Celes thought, _'I suppose you weren't.'_ Still, she could no more imagine that pink creature doing something monstrous than she could imagine Terra doing it. "You still have no idea what happened?"

"No. I stepped up to the esper, and then I was transformed. I didn't understand what was happening to me. I think I must've panicked... Fortunately, I found you," she said, turning back and facing her friend.

"It was luck, really," Celes said, shaking her head, "Your body was charged with an enormous amount of magical energy and I absorbed it through my runic blade. Perhaps my runic sword attracted you as you flew by?"

Perhaps that was it, but secretly Terra wasn't convinced. "I'm surprised the energy didn't affect you in some way."

Celes wasn't so sure that absorbing all that magic hadn't affected her somehow, even discounting how the force of it sent her flying into that tree. Ever since that day she had been having the strangest dreams. And then there was that incident with the train. Never in her life had she blacked out while using magic.

"I've met plenty of monsters before, both human and animal. You're not a monster, Terra." Celes' hand was still on her shoulder, continuing to unknowingly rub the skin there.

"You could never be like Kefka," she added. "That's why he had to use the slave crown on you."

"I've never thought of it that way," Terra said quietly, feeling almost as if she might cry. "Thank you." Celes removed her hand and shrugged. The contact was instantly missed, though Terra balked at the idea of just asking Celes to touch her like that again. "You know, you're nothing like your reputation."

The blonde woman raised an eyebrow, "And what _is_ my reputation?"

"Um..." Terra blushed, "That you're scary, and impossible to make friends with."

The magitek knight laughed, "So, I'm neither scary nor impossible to make friends with?" Sadly, she realized that was the nicest thing anyone had said to her in weeks.

"Well..." Terra paused, trying not to offend, "I don't remember meeting many people like you back in Vector. Some of the jailors and guards were nice to me, but..."

"But they never helped you escape, or protected you from Kefka, so how nice could they really have been?" Celes said, finishing for her.

"Yeah... But you, _you're_ kind."

Celes could only stand there, failing to hide her blush. If anyone else had told her that she would've dismissed it, but Terra was so damned innocent, so damned trusting. There was no way she didn't mean all of what she had said.

She felt absolutely terrible. For years, Celes had known that Terra was being kept as some kind of research subject against her will, but she had done absolutely nothing to help her.

Thankfully, the trusting young woman's thoughts didn't match her own, "If Kefka finds out I'm here..."

"I won't let him take you, Terra," Celes said, her tone absolutely serious.

Terra tilted her head, "And what do you think Kefka will do if he captures _you_?"

Again, Celes struggled to look nonchalant, though she answered truthfully, "Shackle me and parade me through Vector on the way to the gallows?" Either that, or she would be killed right here in Narshe, she thought. Still, as bad as that would be, it wasn't nearly as horrible as what would happen to Terra. Terra was more valuable to the Empire alive...

The images that came to mind made the veteran general shiver.

"I'll be safest if I stay by your side tomorrow. Perhaps I can be your bodyguard?" Terra suggested, her eyes brightening a little.

Celes wanted to protest. She was a general, or was one at any rate, she didn't need protecting. But something told her that Terra would be upset if she turned the offer down. And honestly, if she wanted a bodyguard, she could never do better than the woman standing in front of her.

"No."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to presume -"

The magitek knight shook her head, "No, that's not what I meant," she clarified to the confused looking girl. "How about, you'll just be Terra, and I'll just be Celes?"

Terra tilted her head again. "Huh?"

"No ranks," Celes began with a smile, summoning a light in her own hand and beckoning Terra to follow her back through the caves, "You stay with me during the battle. I'll watch your back, and you can watch mine."

"Oh," Terra said, her face reddening again, "I – uh - think I can manage that."

* * *

><p>Next chapter: The Battle of Narshe.<p>

* * *

><p>AN - Hopefully, you won't think I'm being too hard on Cyan; he did just lose his family after all. It will take some time before he will be able to trust Celes, but the story of how that happens is something I hope to address later on.<p> 


	5. An Enemy of Her Country?

AN – Sorry about taking forever to update. I don't know if it's any consolation, but this chapter is even longer than the last freakishly long chapter. Part of the reason for the delay is due to the trip to New York I took last weekend to see "The Barber of Seville" at the Met. It was my first ever time seeing a live opera performance and was important research for an upcoming chapter, I swear! :)

And thanks again for your reviews. I never expected so much positive feedback for this story, and seeing so many people enjoying it keeps me motivated to continue. It's great to hear what you all think, plus I can reread your reviews whenever I need to convince myself to continue writing.

* * *

><p>"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr<p>

Chapter 5: "An Enemy of Her Country?"

...

"Worst yet, I kill and tremble.

And as I kill, I weep."

- Carlo Gérard, from Giordano's_ 'Andrea Chénier'_

...

The smell of burning timbers and flesh filled the air as an ever-present raging wind spread the flames from roof to roof, forcing the citizens out of their homes like rats fleeing a torch light.

In every direction she could hear the cries and screams of humans being cut down as they ran for their lives. It was a horrific scene she had witnessed a hundred times in a hundred towns and hamlets before.

And, just as on all those previous occasions, it had been at her order. Her fury had brought destruction down upon this defenseless mountain village. And it was her fury that had convinced the others to finally retaliate in what she called 'the human way': the wholesale destruction of an entire race.

In her outstretched hand was a glowing orb of ice. Even with the town now burning like it was, it wasn't safe to get complacent. Humans were unpredictable and resilient; it was never wise to let one's guard down even for an instant when one could be nearby. Too many espers had learned that lesson the hard way.

A building collapsed, showering the town square with debris and smoke and bringing with it a wave of heat that felt wholly unnatural in this frigid place. Her keen hearing noted how the howls of the wind changed pitch with every new fallen building.

Soon the wind would be unhindered as there would be no buildings left standing.

High above the city, the sheer cliffs surrounding it were painted now with red, orange and yellow light as the ice hanging off them reflected the many fires. Practically the entire valley was burning. The humans living here were being wiped out. It was as she wished, but still, she could take no joy in it.

There was no joy for her any longer. Not after all she had lost.

The next building to collapse was the town hall, taking with it more humans who had foolishly barricaded themselves inside.

She hadn't set the fires herself; you couldn't do that with the ice magic she commanded anyway. The flames were courtesy of her friend in the sky who even now was hurling down fire, ice and lightning with all the fury of a vengeful god. And he very well may have been one, for all the power he possessed and all the pain and fury that consumed him.

He too had lost much in this endless war. They all had. It was why they were all here, in a distant and frozen land thousands of miles from their warm and magical home...

All around her lay the dead bodies of the ones foolish enough to confront her, but it still wasn't enough. She would make the humans pay for what they had done to her kind... for what they had done to _her_. Humanity was a race so barbaric they couldn't appreciate the beauty in what they were destroying; such a race had no right to live. They destroyed everything they touched, and if they won this war... well, to her the next step was obvious: the humans would inevitably turn on each other until there was nothing left of them or the world they had conquered.

Surely, the planet would be better off without them.

She had seen the horrors they were capable of with her own eyes: men killing each other over the right to possess a fallen esper's power, their ships plying the waves with incapacitated espers on board, old friends of hers in chains being sold in some distant port as though they were livestock or produce.

Espers _never_ did such things...

So she cut them all down; the armed and defenseless alike, until there were no more left to kill. In war, humans showed no pity to her kind; she would show no pity in return.

In the end it would be either the humans or the espers. The world could clearly not contain both.

She would have her vengeance on this pitiful little town. Every city on this miserable and seemingly endless continent would need to be reduced to smoke and ash before she would be sated.

And after that? Well, she no longer thought about what lay beyond her final goal. There was no future for her, not without the one she loved.

And though she had no idea how far they had yet to travel, she knew it would soon be over. The killing was no longer as easy as it had been when they first landed here and battled the humans and their mage-knights many months ago. In those days, their faces were twisted with a burning hatred for her and the power she held. They desired it like a man desires air to breath, and the envious look in their eyes made killing them so much easier.

Now, the humans were almost uniformly terrified of her and her friends. Now, despite her mostly human features that she never bothered to conceal, most humans ran from the sight of her. Even the ones that coveted her power fought her only from a distance these days.

Her winged friend gently set his talons on the ground in front of her. Unlike her, nothing about him looked human. Before the Triad had given him his gift he had been an eagle, and like many of the nonhumanoid espers he spoke through his thoughts, not with his mouth. His voice was deep and dignified, and though he carried great pain inside himself, he knew how to control it. Sometimes she wondered why the others didn't look up to _him_ as their leader, "Are we ready to move on?"

Tiredly, she ran a hand through her blue hair, scratching at the base of one of her horns. "No stragglers?"

Another creature landed beside them. Like her, he had once been human, though he had somehow inherited the spirit of a wolf when he became an esper. If it weren't for his silver hair and the strange arcane markings on his bare chest, he could pass for a normal human. "It's taken care of," he said. His eyes betrayed his weariness. They all felt the same way.

Soon, all of her comrades had gathered around her. Espers all, they were creatures of many different species: among them was a unicorn, a fully fledged dragon, a centaur, and a few other creatures, some of which she had no name for. There were only eight left now, including herself. The absence of the ones who hadn't made it this far was keenly felt by all.

And it was unlikely there would be any new recruits. Most espers didn't approve of what they were doing here.

Taking a calming breath, she gazed up at the surrounding cliffs. The ice on those sheer cliffs reflected the inferno in a thousand different directions. It was so bright and beautiful now that she found she couldn't take her eyes off of it.

On the very top of one of those cliffs she spotted several quick flashes of light. Her eyes narrowed. The flashes weren't the right color...

"Scatter!" she ordered, just as beams of blue light impacted the ground all around her. The espers instantly obeyed; taking off in seven different directions.

"Ice cannons," she muttered. Ice was now the preferred way to capture espers. It offended her greatly that the humans were still trying to capture them alive, and that they were apparently willing to sacrifice innocent lives to do so.

Enraged, she summoned an ice spell and hurled it through the air though her attackers must have been over a thousand feet away. The bolt smashed into the cliffs just below a group of cannons and triggered a rock slide.

Several of the magic machines tumbled down into the valley below, but too many remained. She could see now that they encircled the entire town in a hundred-eighty degree arc. It was a damned ambush. They really had sacrificed the people here just to capture her and her friends.

She leapt into the air, and watched in horror as one of her companions was hit by the beams, encasing him in a solid block of ice and sending him crashing back to the town below. He would probably be all right, she told herself. She could still free him, but first she needed to -

Another blast, and another esper that had been flying alongside her was hit and fell to the ground. Further enraged, and using all of her power, she tore through the air like a missile.

"Bastards!" she cried, flying bodily into the nearest cannon when she finally reached her target The force knocked the gun right off its carriage, and the dark robed men manning the foul machines fell quickly; some she crushed under ice, some she killed with her bare hands or impaled with the talons on her feet, and some she threw over the edge of the cliff.

The remaining guns in the distance were now firing wildly in every direction as the surviving members of her group attacked them.

"Artemis."

Machines! She hated the bloody unnatural things. She vowed to cast every last one of them over the cliff along with their operators.

"Artemis!" Someone was calling her name, but she ignored them. Grabbing a mortally wounded human, she took a small measure of delight when he screamed as she tossed him over the edge. Then she found another cannon and began ripping its wooden supporting structure apart with her bare hands.

"Artemis!" the deep voice called again. She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was a familiar and calming presence that froze her dead in her tracks. "Stop this now."

Instantly, she knew who it was and for a second she felt shamed, like she was still a little human schoolgirl and had been called out and embarrassed by her teacher in front of the entire class. Stiffening, she rose proudly to her clawed feet, but despite her pride, she couldn't bring herself to look the old wizard in the eye. Instead she kept her vision firmly on the burning village below. "Go back home, Ramuh..." she said, wearily.

He maintained that same disappointed tone, "You shame us all with your actions."

His voice was calm but the words struck her hard. She bowed her head and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Even with them closed, she still saw a bright blue light. Her eyes would always glow like that when she was angered.

They glowed frequently these days.

Another explosion came from the cliffs to the east where her few remaining friends were still killing the humans manning the cannons there. Then came another explosion, and another. Only these were different. The sounds were much too loud.

Her eyes darted over to the plains to the south. Another human army was firing directly at them. Shots flew over her head, but most impacted the mountain beneath her feet. Enormous pieces of rock were carved out and fell, some landing on the burning city below. Clearly, they had given up on trying to capture her.

After all, magicite was almost as valuable as the esper itself.

She straightened herself and finally turned to look Ramuh in the eyes. She surprised herself by actually managing to glare at him. "Leave this place if you won't fight."

Ramuh only shook his head sadly.

Her glare quickly faded. "Why?" she pleaded, but he said nothing. Why had he come here? To shame her? She was doing what had to be done... but she never wanted him to see this.

The old wizard placed an hand on her bare shoulder. He was actually smiling at her, and the kindness in his eyes made her detest herself even more. She wanted him gone. A man as wise and noble as Ramuh should have nothing to do with the atrocities she was committing.

Then, in the distance she heard a woman scream her name. Her tail stilled. Her mouth opened in disbelief. She stared at Ramuh who only smiled knowingly back at her.

_'No,' _she thought. _'It isn't possible...'_

* * *

><p>The following afternoon on the plateau north of Narshe...<p>

...

Terra was quietly calling her name and Celes found herself shaking her head to get the strange memories out of her mind. For a second she had forgotten where she was. All the ice and snow here reminded her too much of last night's dream, but the memories were now a jumble of almost complete nonsense. Flashes of fire, ice, claws, strange winged creatures, and the all too familiar stench of death... What happened, and what did it all mean?

She turned her head to find Terra sitting next to her and looking at her expectantly.

Only with the greatest effort did she manage to utter her next word. "Hmm?"

Terra tilted her head at the confused look on the older woman's face. "What were you thinking about?"

Celes gulped and her brow furrowed. How do you begin to explain a dream like the one she had last night?

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally thought of how to begin to answer that simple question. "Have you ever had a dream where you felt like you were someone else? Like you were in someone else's body?"

Terra tilted her head again, this time in disbelief. Did Celes remember who she was talking to?

The older woman regarded her for a moment, waiting for a response, but then her jaw dropped in embarrassment. "Oh... right... riiiiight..." she drawled, her face turning red, "Of course you know what that's like."_ 'Nice work, Celes,' _her mind added, _'There's a cliff just to your left if you feel like throwing yourself off...'_

With an almost rueful smile, Terra shook her head and returned her attention to the south and the cliffs they were both supposed to be watching. Celes recognized the expression on the woman's face. It was the 'you're such an idiot' look. She thought it was a little sad that she had seen that expression often enough to recognize it so quickly.

Celes internally sighed and turned her own attention back to the cliffs. The dream she had last night had been distracting her all day. She could no longer remember most of it; just that she had been some kind of half-dragon creature who was slaughtering people, the armed and defenseless alike, in the center of a burning village. She hadn't been able to will herself to stop. Disturbingly, she hadn't _wanted_ to stop.

Was that her future? Now that she was working with the Returners, was she destined to one day do to Vector what she had done to that town in her dreams?

She knew her dreams were being fueled by her regrets; she'd had similar dreams after Maranda, and again after fifty of her finest soldiers had been sent to their deaths.

Now here she was, betraying the only home she had ever known. It was only natural that the dreams would return.

But these new dreams were so different...

_'Well,' _she thought, _'maybe it's just my subconscious getting more creative?'_

She blinked again, trying to focus on the small cave opening in the sheer cliff a few hundred yards away. Kefka and his Imperial army were due to march out of there any moment now. This quickly assembled force of less than two-hundred men and women was all that would stand between him and the esper he coveted.

The army on this boulder strewn plain was divided into three wings. Celes, Terra, Locke and Edgar on the east side; Cyan, Sabin, and Gau on the west side. Each group had sixty soldiers between them. Banon stood watch on the north end of the plateau with his third of the force, blocking the only path to the frozen esper.

As for the enemy army: it had fewer troops, but made up for that disadvantage with its heavy magitek armor. Armed with a variety of magical weapons, a single magitek armor could take out a whole platoon of troops in less than a minute, provided its flanks were protected.

Fortunately, the cave system here provided an excellent chokepoint. The giant walking machines would have to file through the cave exit one by one, so, if all went well, Celes and her allies could eliminate them one at a time with minimal loss of life.

Well, minimal loss of life for their side at least.

She quickly put that aspect of the upcoming battle out of her mind. The inevitable grief would come later. All she could do now was hope desperately that the unit Kefka commanded wasn't part of the Third Army.

Sighing, Celes rubbed her hands together to warm them. Narshe was as cold as ever, but it was much worse up here on the plateau where the wind was stronger. Even with her heavy mithril armor and coat, she was still cold. It was still a bit of a shock to see Terra dressed in so little: a sleeveless red dress, white cape and white stockings...

A soldier through and through, Celes wouldn't have known fashion if someone hit her upside the head with it, but she did admire the way her friend was dressed. The clothes suited her somehow, and for the briefest moment, she wondered what Terra would make of the boring and utilitarian way Celes tended to dress.

It was strange, she had been around soldiers all her life, but as far as she knew, none of them were like Terra.

It wasn't her exotic green hair, or her curiosity about the world, though Celes certainly liked both those things. It was more the unusual gentleness and concern for life that Terra maintained despite all those years being trained to be nothing more than a weapon for the Empire.

A weaker person would've crumbled under the strain, as Kefka had done. No, she never completely believed the excuse that something in his mind had snapped on the day he had been infused with magic...

But Terra...

She didn't realize it, and probably wouldn't believe it if she told her, but Terra was as strong as any man or woman Celes had ever met. Celes admired strength. However, while she certainly appreciated physical strength, it was really strength of character, like the kind Terra possessed, that she admired most.

_'And she really is beautiful,' _she thought.

When her admiring eyes traveled below the neck line they darted back to the cliffs before the young woman caught her staring. This was really _not_ the time to be checking out her newest friend, she decided. Closing her eyes, she did her best to rid her mind of distracting thoughts. She thought back to the battle of Anacreon; her last major victory on the field. Then she thought about every battle she had ever fought and won, which, she was proud to say, was practically all of them.

Celes Chère would win this battle too.

...

Terra sat uncomfortably on the cold, hard ground with her arms wrapped around her knees. She wasn't cold, just bored, tired of waiting, and tired of the oppressive silence that she wasn't sure if she was allowed to break.

They had been lying in ambush for some time now. Herself, Celes, Edgar and Locke, with another two-hundred or so Returner soldiers crouched ahead of them behind rocks in this frozen valley strewn with a hundred heavy boulders, some the size of chocobos, others the size of houses.

From behind the boulder she shared with Celes, Terra could see the mouth of the cave from where Kefka and his army were due to arrive any moment. Behind her, over the plateau, through yet more caves and perched on top of the mountain, was the frozen esper they were protecting.

That esper had changed her life. It was the key to understanding who or what she was. To Terra there was nothing more important than keeping it safe and out of Kefka's hands. Internally, she vowed to use all of her considerable powers to protect it.

She glanced to her left.

_And then there was her new friend Celes..._

It was odd. Terra remembered how nervous the woman had been before they had met with Banon, but now, when their lives actually _were_ in danger, Celes seemed completely unfazed. She was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, her runic blade lying in her lap. She was even humming to herself an almost happy sounding melody. Considering what they were about to do, it was a bit of a surprise to say the least.

"What's that you're humming?"

Celes immediately stopped and blushed a little when she realized she'd been caught, "Oh, it's just an old war song the soldiers of Tzen used to sing."

"A war song?" Terra repeated. Those two things didn't sound very compatible to her. Warfare was a brutal and ugly thing, but _singing_ -

"Singing is a good way to keep morale up," Celes quickly explained. "It builds camaraderie, and reminds the troops that there is more to life than just endless bloodshed." That last point was the most important one for her. Music to her was something beautiful she could hold on to that kept her from losing her humanity.

Terra nodded. That made sense… sort of. "Could you... sing it for me?"

Her friend's eyebrow quirked, "What makes you think _I _can sing?"

"I've heard you sing before."

"What? No, you haven't."

The young girl was smiling now. "Yes I have. When I woke up after you changed me back, you were singing something to yourself but I couldn't understand the words. And there were other times, like when you were gathering firewood by yourself, or when you were sharpening your sword alone in your room last night…"

Celes eyed Terra skeptically, so she elaborated, "I can hear really well. Or, you're not as quiet as you think."

The blonde woman's eyes narrowed, though she was secretly amused.

Looking around, Celes sighed when she couldn't think of any way out of this. It never even occurred to her to just say no.

When was the last time she had sung for someone, she wondered. She leaned a little closer to Terra and whispered as though any one else could hear them in this windswept place, "You _really_ want me to sing?"

Terra nodded hopefully, and was silently pleased when the older woman sighed in resignation.

Returning her eyes to the distant cave, Celes steeled herself. She could do this, she thought. If she could stop a moving train single-handedly and face down Kefka and the Imperial army, then she could sing to an audience of one... well, as long as no one else heard her.

She scanned the battlefield one last time. There was no one nearby. If she kept quiet enough no one else would hear. So, taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, put everything else out of her mind and began to sing.

Terra scooted closer to better hear the woman's soft voice over the howling wind. She sang the words much more slowly than when she hummed the tune before, and as a result it sounded much more like a lover's lament than a glorious song of battle.

_"Nastupayt minuta proshaniya, ty gljadish' mne trevozhno v glaza…"_

Terra didn't understand the words at all. Thankfully, Celes apparently noticed her confusion and translated the verses after she was finished each one...

_"The moment of parting is nigh_

_You look into my eyes with alarm._

_I sense your dear breath,_

_And far away the storm is already gathering._

_A tremor ran through the blue, misty air,_

_Alarm touched my temples,_

_Our homeland calls us to a feat,_

_A breath is wafting from the marching regiments._

_Farewell, the land of our fathers,_

_Remember us._

_Farewell, dear glance,_

_Forgive-farewell, forgive-farewell..."_

When she finished, Celes looked down at the sword lying on her crossed legs and felt incredibly silly. The only person who had ever asked her to sing was Cid. And aside from Cid and the teachers he hired for her, no one in the Empire even _knew_ she enjoyed singing.

"That was beautiful."

Celes' face flushed. "Thanks," she mumbled, keeping her eyes firmly on her lap.

Terra couldn't imagine how a song like that would_ increase _morale, but then she was never officially in the army. Still, it was a beautiful song, or perhaps Celes' singing made it beautiful? She wasn't sure.

"You know, singing that song in the Empire would get me arrested," Celes said with a smile, finally daring to look at her friend again. "Then they would arrest_ you_ for listening," she added, her smile growing.

The young mage smiled back, but Celes' warm expression faded as recalling that bit of Imperial law triggered bad memories. After all, it was her successful invasion of Maranda that allowed much of the native art and music of that land to be erased. The Imperial authorities outlawed anything that would promote the idea that Maranda was unique and could exist separately from the Empire. They did the same to all the nations they conquered.

"What the empire did to Tzen… what_ I_ did to Maranda was an atrocity. We took their best and brightest from them, and scattered the rest throughout the Empire," Celes said, her head dropping as a hundred painful memories resurfaced. "The survivors were forced to adopt Imperial customs and forget their heritage. What the Emperor called "uniting the land" was little more than clearing the land so that people loyal to the Empire could settle it..."

Celes was beginning to prefer the idea of unity in diversity, something that Banon had spoken to her about late last night. Such a world would probably not be peaceful, but it would at least be vibrant and alive, and most importantly: free.

For her part, Terra wasn't thinking about anything so grand. She knew little about the grandiose plans of the Empire, or of the Returners, for that matter, but she could sense the woman's regret was genuine. She wanted to comfort her, but wasn't sure what she should do or say.

The young girl could still feel the calluses on Celes' hand from when she had comforted her last night. And today, looking at the embarrassed smile she had given after finishing her song... well, it made Terra feel funny in a way that was completely new to her. It was a warmth that had nothing to do with her latent fire magic.

At some point over the course of their time together, Celes had become the most fascinating person Terra had ever met.

She wondered why the men in Narshe weren't throwing themselves at the older woman. Perhaps they were, she thought, and Celes just wasn't interested? Perhaps she couldn't be interested?

"Can I ask you something?"

The older woman returned Terra's gaze and nodded a little hesitantly. She was beginning to learn that Terra's questions could be a little unusual.

"Do you think Edgar is handsome?"

She blinked. As expected, the question was completely, well, unexpected. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she decided to have a little fun with the young girl, "Why? Are _you_ interested in him?"

Terra quickly shook her head, "N- no," she stammered, "but I saw him talking to you earlier. He said he wanted to know if he was your type."

"He says the same thing to every woman he meets, I think," Celes said, rolling her eyes. She dashed his hopes pretty thoroughly, she felt.

"He said the same thing to me," Terra admitted. At Celes' widening eyes she elaborated, "When we first met in Figaro, I mean. He said that my beauty captivated him."

Celes stamped down a sigh. If someone ever tried that line on her she might just be forced to punch them in the nose. It was the only rational response, after all.

"Is it because we can both use magic?"

"Huh?"

"Neither of us like Edgar… romantically, I mean. Is it because we both have this gift?"

To say Celes was bewildered by the idea would have been an understatement. As far as she knew, having magical powers didn't preclude anyone from falling in love. Just because Kefka was insane, and Celes herself was - _distant -_ well, that didn't mean anything. Plenty of magitek knights fell in love...

"Terra," she said, trying to be as delicate as possible. "I don't think those two things are in any way connected."

"You don't?"

"I don't. In fact, I'm certain they aren't."

Celes watched as the young woman sat there, brow furrowed. She looked to be deep in thought, and she wished there was something she could say, but the best she could do was try to at least guide Terra's thoughts in the right direction.

"I'm just -" she stopped and sighed, feeling both foolish and frustrated, "I want to know what's wrong with me."

"Terra…" Celes said seriously, placing her hands on her shoulders for emphasis, "there is _nothing_ wrong with you."

The girl refused to look her in the eyes. "I just expected to feel _something_..." she said meekly. Edgar was handsome after all, even she noticed that.

Celes shook her head. Terra's words were a horrible reminder of the kind of life she must have led under the Empire's control. After last night, she understood a little better about what it was like for Terra in those days, but surely, being kept in a cell and having all control over herself stripped away every time that damned slave crown was placed on her head affected her more than she knew. Even simple concepts like love and attraction were alien to her.

"Look at me," she said, waiting until Terra finally did so, "The fact that you don't feel something just means you aren't attracted to him. That's hardly unusual." Celes looked over her shoulder and was relieved to see that Edgar was still well out of earshot, "Despite what _he_ may think, not every woman in the world is interested in him."

Terra nodded, but she wasn't so sure about that. All the young women of Figaro seemed to talk about nothing else but how handsome and dashing the king was. She decided to keep pushing. She needed to know more and Celes was the only one here she felt comfortable enough to ask, "Then how do you know when you do love someone?"

"There are many different types of love, Terra," Celes said, dropping her hands from the woman's shoulders. "There's the love of family, love between friends, and then there's romantic love..."

"I don't have a family," Terra said sullenly, her eyes unfocused.

The older woman nodded sympathetically. "You have friends though."

Her brow furrowed again. "But do I _love_ them?" she asked.

Celes truthfully had no idea how to answer that. Terra had only been amongst the Returners for what, a month or two now? How many of them were truly her friends? Would they really put their lives on the line to save her? And if so, would they do that out of friendship, or only because of the power the young woman possessed? Celes wanted to think it was the former. All the Returners she had met so far seemed like good people. Even Cyan.

Terra interrupted her thoughts, "What about romantic love? How do you know when you're attracted to someone that way?"

Celes again fought off the urge to sigh, and tried to keep the irritation out of her voice and off her face. Were they really going to have this conversation now, and _here_ of all places? No amount of military experience had taught her how to answer questions like Terra's, but still, she would make the effort if it would help the girl understand herself better. There was no way Terra could be incapable of love.

"Uh..." she began dumbly. In the back of her mind Celes realized that, despite her desire to help Terra through her self-doubt, she was actually just stalling for time, hoping that the Imperial army would come rushing out of that cave and spare her from having to answer any more difficult questions.

Sadly, that didn't happen.

"Well," she began again, "it's kind of complicated."

"But you've been in love before, right?"

Celes smiled a little sadly and shrugged, "Once or twice..." In all honesty, she could think of roughly a billion things she'd rather talk about, like say, the Greater Vector sewer and water-treatment system for instance... but for whatever reason, probably something to do with those blue doe-eyes staring expectantly back at her, she continued, "The last time was about three years ago..."

The young girl's brow furrowed, "But you don't love this person anymore?"

Celes coughed and shifted a bit so she could keep an eye on the cave again, _'Still no sign of the Imperials, blast it.' _"Three years ago there was a secret mission. I assigned this person to it and they never came back. No one came back."

Terra had a strong idea of which secret mission that was, but she kept her mouth shut. How could she ever work up the courage to tell Celes that she had been the one responsible for killing so many of her men?

"Besides," Celes added, oblivious to Terra's internal strife, "having a relationship with that person would've been difficult. The Empire frowns on relationships between soldiers, especially when they hold different ranks."

"You keep saying 'this or that person,' but not 'he'."

_'How annoyingly perceptive,'_ Celes thought a little grudgingly. She steeled herself for Terra's reaction, "Yes. The person I'm talking about was a woman."

When she finally worked up the courage to glance at Terra again, she was surprised and admittedly a little pleased to see that the young woman wasn't looking at her any differently. Perhaps she shouldn't have been so surprised. Terra struck her as the least judgmental person she had ever met.

"I would've thought the Empire would want their magitek knights to have children."

"No," Celes said with a half-smile, "Thankfully, they discovered early on that magitek powers can't be passed to offspring." And she was extremely grateful for that. The idea of being forced to spread her legs and produce the next generation of magitek knights was completely abhorrent to her. She didn't even_ like_ children.

"What was her name?"

"Hmm?" Celes murmured as she struggled to get that unpleasant image out of her head. "Oh, her name was Fang." It felt odd speaking the name again after so much time had passed.

The corner of Terra's mouth rose a little. "That's an unusual name."

"Well, Fang was an unusual person."

"What was she like?"

She struggled to answer that question. "Brave, strong and tall," she finally settled on. Fang was an amazing woman, one of a kind really, but their relationship had been brief. Celes simply hadn't been ready for love at that point in her life.

"Nothing like me then?" Terra asked. It wasn't entirely clear to Celes if she was joking or not.

"No, that describes you pretty well, actually. Though, you are shorter than her," Celes replied with a smile. Terra felt the blood returning to her cheeks.

She continued, "I did love Fang, but I didn't allow myself to get too close. Eventually, she found someone else, someone more compatible," Celes gave a little half-smile despite her words. When Fang had met her squire Lightning there had been an almost visible spark between the two. At the time she felt those two were destined for each other, but the way _that_ relationship had ended... well, it effectively ended any expectation on Celes' part that she'd ever fall in love again. There was so much to lose. Fang's death had nearly killed Lightning.

"What did it feel like?" Terra asked. At Celes' raised eyebrow, she quickly added, "Being in love, I mean."

"Everyone's experience is different, Terra."

She smiled weakly. "I still want to know."

Celes wrung her hands nervously. She couldn't believe she was talking about Fang with someone she had known for less than a week. She _never_ spoke about her feelings, least of all her romantic ones.

"Fang could always see right through me," she admitted. It was funny, now that she thought about it; Terra could do the same thing. Perhaps it was the eyes? It was the only way to explain why she was talking about her love life while sitting in the middle of a frozen valley and waiting for an Imperial attack.

"She was also a voice of reason," Celes continued, "She kept me calm." Her slight lopsided smile returned, "Sometimes I have difficulty controlling my anger."

Terra placed a hand over her heart and gasped in feigned shock, forcing Celes to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. It was the last thing she expected and she was glad for it. Laughter really took a lot of the tension out of the air. And as a bonus, Terra was finally smiling again.

A little less nervously, she continued, "It doesn't matter in the end if the love you feel for someone is platonic or romantic, Terra." As she said that, Celes thought back to all the people she had ever cared for, including Fang. "When you love someone you want to keep them safe, but at the same time you want to see them reach their full potential."

She had turned in place to give Terra her full attention again. The woman had nodded at her words and Celes hoped she was getting her point across and that Terra wasn't simply humoring her.

"But the most important thing is," she added, a little smile returning, "you want to see them _happy_."

Terra nodded again, and Celes didn't miss the way the girl's pale skin reddened.

_'Now that's a very interesting reaction,'_ the older woman mused.

She couldn't help but ask the question, "Have you ever felt that way before?" Terra was very obviously blushing now. In fact, the blush reached her ears and traveled all the way down to her chest.

"Well, I-"

A loud explosion rocked the cliff face and resounded through the valley like an artillery blast. Even before the smoke had cleared from the newly formed hole, Celes knew what had created it. She pressed her body to the ground just as a magitek laser beam sliced into the rocks a few yards from where she had been sitting.

"Magitek armor!" she cried out, a warning to her fellow soldiers. So, Kefka _did_ have some tricks up his ridiculous looking sleeves after all. Ordering the armored units to blast their way through an unstable network of caves and out on to the plateau wasn't something _she_ would've done, but Kefka had little concern for human life, unless you counted Kefka himself as human.

And Celes wasn't sure if she would go _that_ far.

Lo and behold, there was the mad clown himself leading a group of soldiers out of the cave they had been watching this entire time. Naturally, he stood well to the back as his men arranged themselves in the classic Imperial line formation, spears and axes at the ready. Fortunately, Celes saw no crossbows or laser rifles among them. That was certainly a relief.

She supposed that after knowing the man for twenty years his appearance wouldn't disturb her as much, but no, she still cringed at the sight of Kefka Palazzo in the flesh. His red harlequin style costume, complete with white face paint, stood out even more with the snow and ice as a backdrop.

Celes tensed. Back in the Empire, any day in which she had no interaction with Kefka had been a good one. Clearly, this day was going downhill fast.

"Go!" Kefka cried out, sounding almost like he was laughing, "Get those vile insects!"

Immediately, Celes raised her right arm. Now was the time. "Men!" she yelled in her most authoritative voice, "Advance!" Without hesitation, the sixty soldiers at her command rose from their forward positions as one and charged.

Before she could even get to her own feet there were more blasts that sent her back to the ground. With a quick glance to her right she was relieved to see Terra doing the same thing.

"Damned magitek armor," she rasped, _'how are we supposed to stop that?'_ The few Returner units Banon had managed to scrape together on such short notice were armed with pikes and halberds, with maybe one or two small magitek laser rifles amongst them. Hitting such a large machine with a halberd made an impressively loud noise for sure, but it accomplished little else. And the rifles? All were stolen from the Empire years ago and, without years of skilled Imperial maintenance, were pretty much useless unless your target was less than ten feet away.

Another explosion. Celes watched a new hole form in the cave wall and then immediately collapse in on itself. Well, that was one less machine to deal with.

Still, there were two of the damned things firing down on her troops. She could see Cyan and that little wild boy climbing up the cliffs to reach one of them. That just left one for her and her group to take care of, but they had nothing that could take out one of those massive machines. Perhaps an ice spell would do it? _'Maybe I can encase it in a block of ice?' _she thought. That would at least paralyze it for a few seconds and allow them to get closer. She stared intently at her target. This model of armor was over ten feet tall. It would require a very large block of ice indeed.

Surprisingly, a ball of fire appeared beneath the machine and quickly grew in size and brightness from red to yellow to white to blue. Before Celes' very shocked eyes, the several ton machine melted, the cockpit opened, and a screaming, burning man jumped out and fell to his death on the jagged rocks below.

Terra fell into a swoon and Celes only just managed to catch her in time. That was one hell of a fire spell.

"Whoa there," she said, gently lifting the woman back to her feet, "save some of that energy for Kefka."

The girl in her arms nodded and, as she steadied her, Celes reached into her pouch and pulled out a mana potion. "Here," she said, screwing off the top and pressing it into the woman's hands, "You'll need it more than I will." Mana potions were frustratingly difficult to come by, but Terra was like a force of nature with those powers of hers... Celes would've given the woman her entire supply if she needed it.

Terra drank it down quickly, and shuttered. Despite their restorative properties, the potions were not designed to be pleasant to drink. Then without a word she stepped forward, reached for her twin blades, and unsheathed them so quickly that Celes actually stepped back in surprise. With a wink, the rejuvenated girl dashed into the fray and began cutting experienced soldiers down left and right. Celes couldn't believe what she was seeing. There were members of the Imperial Special Forces who couldn't fight half as well.

'_What else can she do?'_ Celes wondered.

Perhaps there was something wrong with the older woman's mind, but the way Terra fought with those twin swords and cut down her enemies was beautiful to her. It was almost like she was dancing out there as she moved from man to man and began to single-handedly turn the tide of battle.

She was snapped out of her reverie by Locke. "She really is something, isn't she?"

Her gaze never left Terra. "Did the Empire teach her to fight like that?"

"Shouldn't you know?"

Celes shook her head. "When she reached her teens, Terra was kept away from almost everyone, including me."

Briefly, she glanced over at Locke and didn't miss the look in his eyes. She felt the same way. "Come on," she ordered, "let's help her out."

...

As the battle turned in their favor, Celes found herself separated from Terra and everyone else she recognized, but onward she pressed through the line of Imperial soldiers. She wanted the honor of killing the mad clown herself. She could see in his troop's eyes their growing fear. They knew they were losing.

Normally, it would be nearly impossible to confront an Imperial commander on the battlefield when he had so many troops left, but this was Kefka, and his men made no special effort to stop Celes as she cut her way through to him. Someone like Leo could rely on every single one of his troops laying down their lives to protect him, but not Kefka Palazzo.

Bursting through the lines, she finally spotted him again. He was well back from the fray, not to far from the cave exit, Only his two guards now blocked her path.

Right as she was about to close on them, a hideous beast carrying an armored rider on its back burst out of the cave. Stopping directly in front of her, the rider twirled his lance and Celes stood mesmerized at the sight of the man's glowing red eyes staring at her through the slits in his helm.

"Oh, fu-" Without warning, the beast was hit in the foreleg by a series of bolts from a crossbow. It howled in pain and rage and nearly shook its rider off. With a hard pull on its reins, the beast turned and charged at his attacker: Edgar.

"I'll take care of this!" he yelled as he quickly reloaded, "You deal with Kefka!"

Celes grinned and nodded, taking off in the direction she had last seen the man heading in.

He was obviously fleeing now, but Celes had scouted this area quite extensively earlier in the day. There was no way off this plateau except through the cave Kefka had come from.

So it was that she found him and his guards at the very southern edge of the plateau. Beyond was a thousand foot drop.

His guards looked around nervously, but Celes could swear that, despite his predicament, Kefka himself seemed almost _bored._

Without thinking, she jumped down from the ledge she was on and landed directly behind his guardsmen. They were dead before they knew what hit them.

O.k, perhaps they weren't as elite as she had thought.

The mad clown turned on his heels and if he was at all upset by the loss of his elite guards his expression didn't show it. "Well, if it isn't General Celes, the traitor! This is excellent," he said gleefully, giggling for a moment, "Now I won't have to hunt you down later."

Celes snorted. Considering the direction the battle had taken, Kefka's confidence was rather amusing. "If it isn't _Field Marshall_ Palazzo," she said with a mocking bow, though she kept her eyes locked on his, "Still dressing in the dark, I see?"

Kefka's lips curled up into a wolfish smile that seemed to be halfway between amused and offended. "It's not too late for you, Celes. Hand over the esper and we can forget this whole sordid affair ever took place."

"Not on your life!" she replied, pointing her bloody runic blade straight at him.

With an overly dramatic sigh, Kefka unsheathed his own sword, an ornately engraved weapon that looked like it was ceremonial and not intended for actual combat. He swung the sword absently through the air and regarded it curiously, as if he wasn't even sure what its function was, "You military types are all so _tiresome_..."

Without another word, he lunged at her.

Celes easily dodged the thrust. She had never fought the man before, as she couldn't exactly stand being in his company for any longer than absolutely necessary, but she knew never to let her guard down around him.

With a free hand, Kefka threw a green poison spell at her. She didn't even need to react, her runic blade absorbed it automatically. A rush of energy traveled down the sword and into her veins.

When she laughed as the magic rushed through her and granted her its power, Kefka's expression grew angrier and his thrusts became clumsier.

He was strong, but so was she. They continued to trade blows on that windswept cliff, neither knight gaining the advantage. Celes felt she was winning though. She was quicker, whereas Kefka was tiring and looking increasingly desperate. Leaping backwards, she lowered her weapon to cast a spell, but Kefka sensed the opportunity and immediately cast one of his own. In their haste, both shots missed.

An instant later, a fireball smashed into the ground between the combatants, knocking them both off their feet. Celes fell backwards into a snow bank.

"Sorry!"

She smirked despite her predicament; it was Terra.

Rushing back to her feet, Celes kept her eyes firmly on her mortal enemy. Kefka however gaped up at the sight of his former slave now looking down on him from the rock ledge with fury in her eyes. The man seemed legitimately shocked as he slowly stood back up. Perhaps he was wondering where the meek little girl he had tormented for all those years had gone?

"Ah, Terra! Now this is a surprise..." His eyes darted back to Celes, "I can't believe you would associate with this one, not after what she did to y-"

Whatever he was going to say was checked as he fell to the ground to avoid another fireball. Celes didn't blame Terra for interrupting him: every word that came out of Kefka's mouth was poison.

"Bah! Kids these days..." he muttered, dusting snow off himself with a free hand, "you can't get a word in edgewise."

Another fireball. With Kefka distracted, this one hit its mark and the madman's robes went up in an impressive blaze of light that had Celes shielding her eyes for a second.

She could only watch in fascination as Kefka screamed and rolled around the snow, quickly dousing the fire. From his undignified position on the ground he glared up at his new attacker, a sneer on his face, his sword was lost somewhere in the snowbank.

"I won't forget this!" he growled, sounding not unlike a cornered animal. Grabbing the stone hanging from his neck, he yanked it from its chain and smashed it violently against the ground. In a flash he disappeared.

"Bloody warp stones," Celes muttered as she wiped the sweat from her brow. At least he was gone.

Arvis came running up to her, though the former general interrupted the man before he could say a word, "Kefka warped out. Have your men secure the esper in case he returns, and send Cyan to pursue any fleeing men. Make sure they don't come back."

Still trying to catch his breath, Arvis straightened and looked like he was about to salute before thinking better of it and hurrying off the way he had come.

The wind died down for a moment and she heard soft footfalls getting closer. "Is it over?" Terra asked.

Celes looked down at the bloody weapon she still clutched in her hands. Without the wind everything was much too quiet.

"Yeah," she said quietly, "It's over."

* * *

><p>Next chapter: Meeting the Frozen Esper.<p>

* * *

><p>AN – What was going on in Celes' dream? There should be some answers in Chapter 6.<p>

Regarding the song, I decided to give Tzen a Russian/Slavic identity, mostly because the name Tzen reminds me of the word Tsar. The song Celes sings is an old Russian march called "Farewell of Slavianka." I figured, as a general who loves music, Celes would be familiar with many such songs. There are a few different versions of this particular tune (the one referencing Russia's World War II experience is by far the most common one to be found on youtube), but the version sung here has lyrics by Vladimir Lazarev (with slight edits by me).


	6. The Rebellious Bird

AN - I need to learn how to write shorter chapters. :(

* * *

><p>"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr<p>

Chapter 6: "The Rebellious Bird"

...

"The bird you thought you had caught

beat its wings and flew away...

Love stays away, you wait and wait;

when least expected, there it is!"

- Carmen, a Gypsy girl, from Bizet's _'Carmen'_

...

Celes still hadn't moved.

Kefka's guards were dead, Kefka himself had vanished, the distant sounds of battle had long since ceased, but still Celes had not moved.

For a moment Terra thought that Celes must be angry about Kefka's escape, but, as she slowly inched closer and got a better look at the expression on the woman's face, it became obvious that she was mistaken.

Celes didn't look angry at all; she looked as though she was only barely holding herself together. Her eyes closed tightly and she let out a few shaky breaths before opening them again to resume staring at the bloody weapon still clasped in her hand.

Finding herself unable to move, Terra grew even more concerned when Celes' muscles tensed and she threw the sword hard into a snow bank. Quickly shutting her eyes tightly again, she clenched her fists and remained firmly rooted to her spot.

Her own breath hitching at the sight, Terra hesitated for a moment longer, but it was impossible to fight the overwhelming urge to do or say _something_. "Are you all right?"

Although Celes opened her eyes and seemed to vaguely acknowledge her presence, she didn't answer. She had a distant, unfocused look in her eyes that Terra found incredibly unnerving. Slowly, Terra moved closer, like she would approach a wounded animal, and gently placed a hand on the woman's chainmail covered upper arm, squeezing it slightly. Surprisingly, Celes didn't flinch as she had expected. Her only reaction was to shut her eyes again.

More than anything, Terra wanted to know what was going on in her friend's mind at that moment.

"Ah, there you are," Banon called out as he trudged towards them through the snow. He at least looked perfectly all right, though Terra doubted he did much actual hand to hand fighting.

He paused for a moment, probably surprised at the scene he had just stumbled upon. His tone became noticeably more tender, "There are many wounded and dying out here," he began, gasping as he stopped to wipe the sweat from his brow, "we should split up and tend to them."

Celes took a deep breath and nodded.

...

The battle was over, or at least it was as far as Narshe was concerned. As soon as Kefka's armored rider was dispatched, Edgar and Cyan led a group of Returners back through the caves both in search of Kefka and to pursue the few Imperial survivors. Hopefully, Terra thought, they would give the men a chance to surrender. Already, ten soldiers who had done so were sitting on the frigid ground with their hands on their heads. Sabin was watching them, occasionally pounding his impressively large fists together to disabuse them of any notions about escaping.

Most of the dead lay by the entrance of the cave, but from north to south, much of the plateau was strewn with yet more dead bodies. Thanks to Celes' carefully laid ambush, the vast majority were Imperials. Terra still felt exhausted, but she checked over each and every fallen man and woman, regardless of uniform, to see if there was anything she could do. Despite what the Empire had done to her, she would at least do that much. She held no hatred for the men and women who did its bidding, only pity.

It made her wonder if she was as incapable of hate as she was of love.

Carefully, she checked each body. So many of them were mangled in horrifying ways that made her want to retch. She could be glad for that fact at least: the sight of the dead still had an impact on her. It was one less thing she had in common with Kefka.

The sun was low on the horizon before she finished her task and went looking for Celes. The woman was hard to find; her blonde hair and shiny mithril armor made her blend in easily with this frozen place.

Terra eventually found her standing alone on a rock ledge and facing the darkening eastern horizon.

As she approached, she called out the woman's name warily, but there was no answer. She didn't even seem to hear her.

Celes was staring at the rocky ground beneath her feet. There were no bodies here and no blood to be seen, but the woman's eyes still had that disturbing unfocused look in them.

When she got close, Terra stopped dead in her tracks. She could swear that there was a tear running down the proud woman's cheek.

In both hands she was clutching Imperial identification tags that must have come from the dead. Terra had seen plenty of them before; thin metal disks that were usually worn with a long chain around the neck. Each tag had a small symbol emblazoned on it to indicate the soldier's home town: Vector, Albrook, Anacreon, Maranda... there were many different places. And on the reverse was an insignia for the soldier's unit. She didn't recognize any of the ones she could see.

Celes seemed to finally notice Terra's presence. In a frustrated looking move, she quickly wiped the tear away with her wrist, but otherwise remained perfectly still.

Terra didn't know what to do. Did Celes want to be left alone? _Should_ she be left alone?

It brought back memories of yesterday at the mayor's house, the day she had finally revealed everything to the older woman. Celes had hugged her then and it was really surprising how comforting the contact had been. Plus, Terra couldn't help but think that the fact that the embrace had come from someone as supposedly distant and uncaring as Celes Chère, former general of the Empire, commander of the Third Army, and hero of Anacreon, made it all the more meaningful.

Celes didn't seem the kind of person who would ever seek to comfort anybody, let alone hug them; but that's exactly what she had done for Terra last night.

She wanted to do the same for her. She wanted to ease her pain. So Terra did the only thing she thought might help: she hugged the older woman.

Immediately, Celes tensed, but though her eyes were tightly closed, she must've realized instantly who it was. Terra assumed she would've been shoved away otherwise.

Terra wrapped her arms around the woman tightly, lest she be tempted to escape, and quickly buried her face in the woman's unbound hair.

Celes' torso was still protected by her mithril armor, but not entirely sure what to do with her hands, Terra gently rubbed the woman's armored back anyway. What does one do during a hug, she wondered. Sadly, she'd never actually instigated one before...

Her friend's powerful muscles had always felt stiff on the rare occasions the younger girl touched her, even that time when she was sleeping and Terra had the foolish idea to keep her warm with her own body heat. Even then, Celes had been tense, like she was constantly on guard even as she slept. Indeed, she never seemed to relax, regardless of what she was doing.

Terra realized that if she could take this woman's concerns and place them on her own shoulders she would do it in a heartbeat.

She desperately wanted to know what was going on in the other woman's mind, but was the pain Celes was so obviously feeling something Terra could ever hope to understand?

It took several minutes of asking herself these questions before she finally got up the nerve to speak. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She felt those muscles tense again, but Celes didn't open her mouth, she remained there with her hands dangling limply at her sides, the Imperial tags having long since dropped to the ground. Terra hoped that maybe she was at least considering the idea, but in the end Celes only shook her head.

"O.k." Terra murmured, "That's o.k," she added, trying to sound reassuring. There was nothing she could say or do, but Celes wasn't resisting the embrace, so as the sun set they remained as they were. Terra noted that, if nothing else, Celes was at least beginning to relax in her arms.

And secretly, she was still very tired. It was nice to be able to lean on someone for a while.

...

Darkness had almost completely fallen by the time the two women finally separated.

Celes had gently pulled away and found an outcropping of rock to sit upon. Despite the dark, Terra, with her excellent vision, could see that her friend no longer looked sad, just embarrassed. She very much preferred that, and the change was a relief to say the least.

"Sorry about all that," Celes mumbled, still looking down at her lap.

Terra smiled a little from where she now stood. "Why are you apologizing?"

The question apparently came as a surprise, because the woman finally returned Terra's gaze. "Well... uh..." she began, trailing off when it became clear she didn't have an answer to that question.

"You don't have to be so strong all the time, you know?"

The older woman grunted. "I _have_ to be strong. It's the only reason I've made it this far."

"Celes..."

There was a long silence. Celes stared off at the now starry horizon and shook her head, though her friend had no idea why. "Sorry," she mumbled again.

Shaking her head, Terra was about to protest when Celes finally looked her in the eye again. "I'm not used to sharing my -_problems_- with other people..."

The younger woman gulped and nodded. She noticed the discarded tags scattered on the ground, "Did you know them?"

Celes smiled ruefully, "That's the funny thing: I didn't. They were part of the Second Army." She sighed, "It's just... _hard_ to go against everything you've been taught, you know?"

Terra didn't know, at least not _really_. But that did make at least some kind of sense to her.

"It's worth it all though," Celes added, concentrating on the discarded tags again, "If it keeps you out of their clutches, and makes the world a better place."

Though it warmed her heart to hear it, Terra still objected, "I- I don't want to see you hurt because of me."

The woman's lop-sided smile returned, "I would be going through this pain even if you weren't here."

"Hmm, I suppose you would."

"Or, I would've run Cyan through the heart and would now be running for my life," she added, smile broadening.

Terra giggled. Now_ that _seemed far more likely. "Are you always so quick to anger?"

Celes laughed and shook her head, clearly just as thankful as Terra to have the subject changed. "Cid told me once that it might've been a side-effect of the magitek infusion process. Many people who go through the procedure end up changed in some, usually subtle, way. According to him, I was a very quiet and well-behaved little girl before the procedure. Afterwards, I developed quite a temper."

The images Terra's mind conjured up of Celes as a little girl made her smile more brightly. "Anyways," the older woman added, "thank you, for," she paused and made some kind of unintelligible gesture with her hands, "_you know..." _She blushed, "You didn't have to."

"I wanted to, and it looked like you needed one."

The smile returned. "I did. It's... been a _long_ time."

Celes finally turned fully around to face her and Terra was silently pleased to see the appreciative look on the woman's face as she looked her over.

"And now we're both covered in blood."

Terra giggled as she looked down at her dress. Despite its red color, the dried blood was easy for both to see even in this light. "I've been experimenting with ways to remove blood with magic, but everything I try just ends up setting my clothes on fire."

Celes snickered and then began laughing so hard it actually made her sides hurt. It took minutes before she stopped.

Terra had watched this all with fascination. Celes looked so young when she laughed like that. The pain of her past mistakes and the burdens she placed on herself were temporarily forgotten.

"Feel any better?" the young girl asked a little breathlessly.

"Yeah, I do actually. Thanks... _again_."

Terra only smiled back. "Here," she said after a moment's thought, waving her hand over Celes and magically erasing the cuts and bruises she had sustained today.

Celes whispered a thanks but didn't know what else to say. Terra was always so incredibly gentle, and patient and understanding...

Eyes brightening a bit, she reached into her pouch and pulled out her last remaining mana potion. "Here," she said, pushing it into the girl's hands.

For a second, Terra thought about protesting, but she couldn't hide her own exhaustion, so she took the flask and quickly gulped down the foul tasting liquid. In an instant she felt refreshed.

Now if she only had some water to wash it down with.

"You were amazing out there today," Celes said out of the blue. "I've never seen anyone fight so gracefully. And look at you," she added, gesturing at the young girl who looked a bit embarrassed, "not a scratch anywhere, or a thread out of place."

Terra gave a little shrug, but couldn't entirely hide her pleasure at the compliment.

"Maybe you could teach me how to fight like that sometime?"

Honestly, she would've loved to, but Terra couldn't ever remember actually being taught to fight without magic. "It's just something I do naturally," she said. Noticing how Celes' expression fell at the words she quickly added, "but maybe I could teach you _something_."

With a smile, Celes nodded and looked up at the gathering darkness. The stars were shining brilliantly tonight, but clouds were beginning to roll in quickly. She stretched her muscles a bit as she stood. "We should probably go," she said finally.

"No," said Terra with a shake of her head, "I need to go see the esper first."

"Now?" she asked with widening eyes. She glanced around as if the lateness of the hour itself should've made it blatantly obvious that now was not the time to pay a social call on the esper they had just saved.

"I have to see it, Celes. I can't wait any longer."

"And if it transforms you again?"

Terra sighed. "I want you to come along. If it happens again you can just do what you did last time."

Celes scratched her head. That was part of the problem: she hadn't really _done_ anything last time. Her runic blade had done all the work, and the magical energy involved "last time" had sent her flying into a tree and knocked her out for several hours. She wasn't so keen for a repeat performance. "Terra, my sword is a _weapon_," she said, gesturing at the blade long since cleaned and returned to its scabbard. "It's designed to _kill_ things..."

Terra remained fixed to her spot, looking up at her with pleading blue eyes, a pout forming on her lips.

"Oh, please don't look at me like that."

The girl's pout only grew in intensity, and Celes found herself giving in all too quickly. "Oh, _fine..._"

With an amusingly satisfied look on her face, Terra leapt to her feet. "Come on," she said enthusiastically, "It's this way."

...

Banon had given Celes the impression that the esper was just north of the battlefield, through a short cave and out the other side.

He hadn't mentioned that it was on the very top of a very tall mountain, accessible only by a narrow and dangerous path.

Climbing that path in the dark and scrambling up the rocks with the moon occasionally being obscured behind fast-moving clouds was a big ask. Ice spells produced a fair amount of light, and for some time Celes thought about using her magic to light the way, but part of her fought the idea. After all, Terra seemed to be having no trouble at all..

She just barely made it through the cave, poorly lit as it was by the occasional torch, without tripping, or smacking her head against the wall, but once through to the other side the terrain became much more unpredictable.

And the constant blowing snow didn't help matters. Celes couldn't wait to be rid of this awful place.

She really hated the cold.

...

The only sound to be heard was the blowing wind and the crunching of Celes' boots as the two women trudged through the snow and ice together. Sometimes they walked on solid rock, other times it was slippery ice. Oddly, as Terra walked ahead she didn't seem to stumble or make a sound. _'Is she really that much lighter than me?'_ Celes wondered.

As she considered this, she cursed when she tripped over a half-buried rock and fell to her knees.

"Celes!" Terra cried out, but the woman was already pushing herself up before she could lend a hand.

"Whoops..." the older girl muttered under her breath.

Sensing her predicament, Terra summoned a bright fire spell in her hand. In an instant Celes was blinded and she shielded her eyes.

"Oh, sorry!" Terra yelped, the fire immediately dissipating.

Celes laughed despite it all. "It's all right, but you really should conserve your magic. We don't know what's going to happen when we get up there."

She thought she saw Terra nod at that suggestion, but the residual flash in her eyes made it hard to be sure.

"Here," Terra said, reaching out and entwining her fingers with Celes' own, "I'll lead the way."

Celes stiffened the instant Terra's fingers touched hers. Her hands were very warm... a result of her latent fire magic, the magitek warrior assumed. "I... uh... I don't-"

"It's all right. I won't let you fall."

The older girl only nodded dumbly. Falling wasn't exactly what she worried about, well, not off a cliff at any rate. Gently, she was pulled along as Terra deftly avoided every pit, crevasse, and rock on their way to the top of the mountain. When the moon next briefly peeked out from behind the rushing clouds, Celes got a glimpse of just how far down the drop was on either side of this path. She gripped Terra's hand more tightly.

"You can see in dark?" Only after she asked the question did Celes realize just how much her voice trembled.

"Not in total darkness, like inside a cave," Terra answered.

Celes nodded. She was well aware that Terra couldn't see her do so, however, words were becoming hard to come by.

"But out here," Terra continued, gesturing at the sky with her free hand, "with the stars shining, I can see just fine."

Celes nodded again as she continued to stare at their interlocked hands.

They were still holding hands when they passed a Returner guard post a few minutes later. The post consisted of little more than a wooden bench with no protection from the elements. Two guards were manning it.

For a second, the older woman thought about disentangling herself from Terra's grasp, but thought better of it. If Terra wanted to hold her hand, then that's what was going to happen, even if it made her feel a bit silly right now.

"Anything to report?" Celes barked.

"N-no, Ma'am," one of the men replied. Celes was unsure if he stuttered because he was intimidated at the sight of two women holding hands, or simply cold.

"Any sign of Kefka?" she asked the still surprised men who looked far more exhausted than she felt at that moment.

"No, General," the senior guard stammered.

"You two are relieved. Go back to town and warm yourselves before you both end up with frostbite."

Both men stood at attention and saluted, something Celes could barely see due to the dark and the still blowing snow.

After the two men lit their torches and rushed off, Terra gave Celes a small smile as she tugged her hand to get her walking again. "It seems they already trust you."

"Yeah..." she replied weakly. It was really, really hard to ignore the fact that Terra was _still_ holding her hand.

_'If only,'_ she thought. But the unfinished statement had nothing to do with those Returner soldiers. Celes wondered how different things would be if she only would've tried to get Terra out of the Empire's clutches years ago. It was impossible for her to deny her attraction to the younger girl now. Maybe if things had been different she could find the courage to take it further. But now?

But then she hadn't seen Terra get so close to anyone else here.

It was impossible to deny it now. She was very much attracted to the young mage. It was impossible not to be.

Perhaps the girl thought of her only as a friend?

_'It doesn't matter,'_ a part of her mind replied.

_'You're just confusing friendship with something more...'_

_'And **you're** just afraid...'_

_'She can do so much better than you. Do you honestly think she could love a former Imperial general after all the Empire did to her?'_

_'Terra isn't like that!'_

_'She needs someone tender, someone delicate… someone completely. unlike. you.'_

Celes sighed under her breath. But what if that wasn't true? she wondered. What if the feeling _was_ mutual? Could it hurt to find out?

_'Yes, and then you would scare away the only friend you have left in the world. What a brilliant idea!'_

Terra stopped when they rounded a series of craggy boulders. "There it is," she said, her voice sounding almost awed.

The sound of that voice shocked Celes out of her internal battle. When she looked at what Terra was pointing at, Celes could fully understand. For a brief moment, the moon peeked out from behind the fast moving clouds and illuminated the scene. There was the esper, just fifty feet away, its frozen prison appearing to glow in the moonlight. Inside were hints of a wing, and possibly a beak. It was hard to tell from this distance exactly what the creature looked like.

"Beautiful..." Celes whispered. And Terra nodded in agreement.

With the moon back out, Terra slowly withdrew her hand. Celes eyes met hers and gave her an embarrassed little smile.

The esper was lying on the very top of a ridge that was completely surrounded by steep cliffs on three sides, as though the Narsheans had decided that, yes, they would keep the esper, but only if it was as far away from the town as humanly possible.

Its position was so precarious that Celes wondered how the wind hadn't already knocked it over the edge and into the valley far below.

"So," Celes drawled as they both remained fixed to that spot, "what do we do now?"

To be honest, Terra wasn't exactly sure... "I _could_ try to free him," she offered.

Well, _that_ sounded like a terrible idea. "Espers are mindless creatures, Terra. Who knows what it will do if you free it?"

The girl noticeably stiffened on the word 'mindless'. "I - I don't think you're right."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe espers aren't the beasts the Empire says they are."

Celes wanted to protest, but for all she knew Terra might be right. The Empire had lied to her time and time again; they had kept Terra in confinement as a slave practically her entire life... If she was going to truly join with the Returners, then maybe it was time to reevaluate _everything_ the Empire had ever taught her.

She put up her hands submissively to calm the girl's concerns. "If you say they aren't mindless, then I believe you." And the crazy thing was, she actually meant it.

Terra let out a relieved sigh. She desperately wanted Celes to trust her. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"And wait, how do you know it's a 'he' anyway?"

There was a slight shrug. "It's just this feeling I have. He's male. And I think he's ancient; much older than even the War of the Magi."

That would mean he was well over a thousand years old. "_Really?_"

The young mage nodded.

"Good evening Terra, Celes."

Celes couldn't entirely keep her lip from twitching when Terra nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise. A familiar man in a heavy coat was just standing there, leaning comfortably against one of the many boulders that littered this place. "Locke! What are you doing up here?"

He nodded in acknowledgment before stretching his arms out over his head. "Until we know where Kefka is, Banon thinks it would be worthwhile to keep an eye on our friend here," he said, regarding the frozen esper with another nod of his head.

"Oh, I already sent the two guards we saw on the way up here back to camp."

Locke smiled. Celes had forgotten all about the freezing temperature, but the ice crystals that formed when the man spoke told of how hellishly cold it was out here, "Well, if you want to send _me_ back..."

Celes snorted. "Perhaps we should _all_ head back. It's been a long day." It certainly had been, and she was beginning to feel it. Even if Kefka was still around, what could he do? It wasn't like he could carry the esper to Vector all by himself.

Terra shook her head. "I want to see the esper, Locke."

"Now? Even after what happened last time?"

The young girl steeled herself. This was something she had to do. She was tired of not knowing... "I have to do this. I need to know who or what I am." She was resolved not to spend another day in ignorance.

_'Who or _what_ I am,' _Celes repeated in her mind. How could Terra possibly think of herself as anything less than human?

If anything, Terra was what all humans should strive to be like. If only more people could be so kind-hearted and understanding, maybe there would be no need for war, _and_ magic, _and_ swordplay... or most of the other things Celes had spent her entire life studying...

"Terra..." she softly chided, but the woman was not to be deterred.

"Stand back," she ordered. Though her voice was hardly commanding, Celes and Locke both did as they were told.

Sighing in resignation as the woman stepped forward, Celes unsheathed her runic blade. "Terra!" she called out, managing to get the woman to stop and glance back over her shoulder, "_be careful_..."

The young woman smiled back and gave her a nod that did little to reassure her.

Slowly, warily, Terra approached the frozen creature. Celes could feel _something_ in the air. Was it magic, or just her nerves? The wind tapered off, the air crackled with electricity, and unbelievably, the creature inside that block of ice began to react.

For a second she thought it was just the moonlight, but no, this light was like the deep blue of the ocean and it began to slowly pulse, bathing them all, including the surrounding mountains, in a brilliant blue glow. The sight was so mesmerizing that Celes didn't even think of raising her sword.

Then there was a loud cracking sound and a flash like a lightning strike. She heard a scream, and the last thing she saw was Terra, in that strange form she had been in when they had met such a short time ago. In an instant she was soaring into the sky.

* * *

><p>Celes slowly came to, surprised to find herself lying flat on her back, the stars twinkling brightly above her. However, something was not quite right; she couldn't feel the cold or the wind anymore. She shook her head, but quickly regretted it when it made her feel even worse.<p>

For a split second she couldn't understand why she was still here, but in an instant it all came rushing back to her. "Terra!" She had shouted the name, or at least she had tried to, but her voice was so weak she could barely even hear it.

On the verge of panic, and despite the throbbing pain in her head, she struggled to push herself up with her shaky hands, but it was no use. Falling back to the ground, she silently cursed herself for letting Terra meet the creature first. Now she was _gone_.

Vision blurring, and head pounding, Celes almost passed out again before she heard something unexpected.

"Ah, finally awake, I see..." the voice was unfamiliar, yet somehow not, and it was coming from behind her.

She tightly closed her eyes. Her entire body ached terribly and she couldn't will herself to even try to move again. The only thing Celes could think of was how she wished she could go more than two days without getting knocked unconscious.

"You and me both," the voice replied. The sound made the hairs on the back of her neck tingle. Whoever it was was much closer now.

Celes' eyes shot open. Her vision was still blurry, but she was shocked to see someone, or _something_, leaning over her. It was wearing some kind of strange helmet that the general didn't recognize. And was its skin... _blue?_

She blinked, trying to refocus, and looking further down she couldn't fail to notice the rest of its body, including its uncovered _chest_... _'Is there a naked woman here? **Why** is she naked?'_

"Hmmph. Espers don't share you humans silly obsession with clothes. Didn't the Empire teach you anything?"

"Esp... uh... what?" was all her bewildered mind was capable of replying with.

The woman crouched over her and titled her head as she stared curiously into Celes' eyes, and Celes found she couldn't look away from them. Whoever, or whatever this creature was, she simply exuded power in waves. It was like staring at a human incarnation of some unopposable force of nature. In comparison, Celes had never felt so powerless or insignificant in her entire life.

_'Did she say she was an esper?' _ She tensed. Celes Chère was face to face with a living, breathing esper, and couldn't so much as move. Was she about to die?

Smiling ever so slightly, the creature said something in a language Celes couldn't understand. Holding out a hand that was as blue as the rest of her, Celes watched dumbstruck as a faint flash of light shot out from it and directly into the blonde woman's body. Instantly, she felt, if not much stronger, than at least much less disoriented.

Vision clearing, it was only now that she could really see the woman standing over her. It wasn't the moonlight at all, her skin really _was_ blue. And what she had thought was a helmet were in fact horns that grew out of her head, curved backwards and then out again, a little like the horns of the rams she had seen in South Figaro.

Her long silken hair was also blue, but a much darker shade than her skin. Strangely, it moved in the air as though there were a strong breeze coming from somewhere, but there was no wind at all that Celes could feel.

In a way, this creature looked like a blue version of whatever Terra had been transformed into, except this woman had normal human hands instead of claws. Still, the tufts of blue fur were there growing out of her forearms, just like they did on Terra's transformed body, and she too had talons on her feet, though these were much more fearsome looking than Terra's claws had been. Beneath the woman's knees, her legs were scaled, like a lizard's perhaps?

"Dragon, actually," the creature said.

Celes stiffened. _'It can read my mind?'_

The woman grinned and her sharp canines flashed. Shockingly, her eyes were now glowing a light blue color.

Celes gulped. The world all around her felt strangely ethereal. Her surroundings, the cliffs, the rocks, the distant mountains, all looked as they had before, but everything, including her own body, now had a strange bluish tint to it that had nothing to do with the ice and snow coating every stone, boulder, and cliff.

She blinked rapidly, desperately hoping she was hallucinating, but the dragon-woman remained. Unbelievably, she appeared to be ever so slightly transparent... the mountains and stars could just barely be seen through her body. Maybe this really _was_ a dream?

Perhaps so, because this half-dragon-woman was _still_ naked and still hovering over her. What was it with strange women just showing up unannounced and completely undressed?

All in all, this woman was certainly _attractive_, but the sardonic smile on her face completely ruined the effect as far as Celes was concerned. Whoever this dragon creature was, she was nothing like Terra had been.

Tentatively, she raised her hand to touch the creature, but stopped when she saw it: her hand was slightly transparent too!

Uncharacteristically frightened, she scrambled backwards with newfound strength until her back collided with a boulder. Stopping dead in her tracks, she found herself panting. The action had tired her as though she had just run a mile in Imperial parade armor.

The woman stood up but instead of chasing her, she only chuckled. She must've been nearly seven feet tall, Celes realized. Her voice was strangely resonant and unearthly, like it didn't come from this world, "I can't believe they would grant my powers to the likes of_ you_."

Celes' eyes darted around, searching for her runic blade, but it was nowhere to be seen, although at this stage she wasn't convinced she could even lift the thing if she found it. "W- who are you?" Thankfully, her voice came out a little more loudly than before, even if she still stuttered, _"What_ are you?"

The creature's smile grew as she slowly approached. "I'm a monster," she said, wagging a long, scaly tail behind her, "isn't it obvious?"

Celes narrowed her eyes and the woman flashed her a very wolfish grin. "I _should_ just kill you... but then I would just be killing myself, wouldn't I?"

"What are you talking about?"

The woman snorted again and turned on her heel. Only then did Celes realize that the frozen esper was still there, trapped inside its icy prison maybe twenty feet away. _'Wait, if he's still in there, then where the hell did this dragon-creature come from?'_

Slowly, it approached the frozen esper. "Ugh, do I have to spell it out for you?" she asked, not even bothering to turn around, "Your fellow humans captured me and put me inside you."

What? This creature was the one that had been used to give Celes the gift of magic? Was that really how it worked? She was sure she'd heard somewhere that a single esper could infuse several knights with magic, or hundreds, if not thousands, of magitek weapons. Were there other knights with espers trapped inside them like this?

"Gods, you'd think you be able to remember something like that, considering it happened only a few days ago."

_'A few days ago?'_ she repeated the words in her mind._ 'O,k,' _Celes thought, _'either this woman is insane, or I am.'_

She tried to move again, but all she could do was back herself further up the rock into an almost sitting position. She felt as weak as a kitten and the realization was completely terrifying. All her life had been a struggle to get to where she was now. What if she was trapped like this forever? What if she _never _got her powers back?

Meanwhile, her strange companion had seated herself on a rock and lazily stretched her arms over her head.

"Can you feel his call?" she asked. Her lips moved, and the words matched their movement, yet her voice still sounded alien; like it belonged to a more powerful and perfect age than the one Celes lived in.

Celes could only shake her head. Again she had no idea what the woman was going on about.

"No, I suppose you can't. You'd need my power to feel it; the power you stole."

The accusation offended her. "I haven't stolen anything!" She had tried to shout the words, but winced at how weak they sounded coming out of her mouth.

The dragon-woman scoffed in reply. "Then why am I here?"

"Well," Celes began, mimicking the strange woman's crossed arms and sarcastic tone as best she could from her position on the ground, "Maybe I could answer that if I knew who you were?"

Surprisingly, the woman's lips twitched with humor at the response. "I am Artemis," she said with a mocking bow from her seated position, "Though you humans once called me Deianara, 'man-destroyer'. I am an esper, just like my frozen friend here. You may call him Valigarmanda."

"You're both -"

"Espers," Artemis finished for her, rolling her eyes. "Let me guess. Your masters told you all espers were nothing more than wild magical beasts?"

Celes found herself only able to scowl in reply. She hated this woman already. And 'masters'? _No one_ was her master.

"Yes, _masters_. The men you wasted your life fighting for. The same men who broke into my world and captured so many of us. I doubt _you_ were the mastermind behind all that."

Curiously, Artemis was referring to events that Celes had only read about in books. "That was over twenty years ago!"

The woman's sardonic smile disappeared. "Twenty years? I only remember three days. I awoke around the time you encountered your green-haired friend."

'Three days?' Celes thought. The runic blade! All that power she absorbed from Terra must've somehow awakened this creature lying dormant inside her for all these years.

"Interesting," Artemis replied, reading her mind. She clasped her hands together, clearly pondering something, "Still, even if you've had a change of heart, you still did their bidding. You allowed them them to take my power from me for your own personal gain."

Celes clenched her teeth. She may have been powerless, but there was no way in hell she was going to lie here and take this kind of abuse. "I was five years old!"

That actually seemed to surprise the other woman. "Five years old... How old are you now?"

"Twenty-three."

Her voice became outraged, "I've been trapped inside you for _twenty years?_"

Celes couldn't stop herself, she flinched at the way the woman's eyes flamed, and the hidden strength she saw in those tensed muscles.

"Idiot, I can't hurt you." To emphasize the point, she jumped off the rock, quickly walked over to Celes and ran her hand right through the woman's abdomen. "See?"

"Wow..." the general breathed. _'This woman is like a ghost.'_

"A ghost... hmmph," Artemis said as she stood back up. "That is more or less what I am, it seems."

"You really _can_ read my mind..."

Artemis rolled her eyes and, turning aside, she walked back to the frozen esper. "Oh, give this woman a bloody medal," she cried out, arms upraised.

Celes grumbled. "Where is Terra? What happened to her?"

"I should think that was obvious," Artemis replied, staring intently at Valigarmanda's frozen prison, "Your friend is an esper."

She let that settle in. Celes couldn't believe it. _ 'All this time, Terra was an esper?'_

"_Half_-esper, I should think," another voice, male this time, chimed in. Unbelievably, the voice came from_ inside _that frozen block of ice. The thing was alive!

Artemis stepped back from the frozen creature, clearly surprised herself. "Part-esper, part-human? Is that really possible?" she asked, her brow furrowing. "I've heard rumors of such a thing..."

The woman looked to be seriously mulling the idea in her head. It seemed to shatter her impression of humans to consider that one could actually come to love an esper.

"I don't think it's so unlikely, Artemis," spoke the frozen creature, "just look at the way she cares for her friend."

The dragon-woman huffed, crossing her arms almost petulantly. "That was before she knew the girl was part-esper."

'_What in the world are they –'_ Again Celes' found her thoughts interrupted.

"If you're here, Artemis, like this, they must have captured you, I suppose?"

"Yes," she drawled, looking uneasy, "They did, but not on that night."

"What do you mean?"

"More than a thousand years have passed since we last met."

There was a silence, before the trapped creatures voice boomed, "And you left me to rot for _a thousand years_?"

Artemis tail slumped. "The humans knocked down half the mountain that night. You were frozen and buried under hundreds of feet of rock. There was no way to find you... We didn't have the time."

"We?" Celes broke in.

Artemis glared backed at her. The conversation between the two espers then continued as before, but now in a language that the well-traveled and multilingual general wasn't familiar with. She was certain she had heard it somewhere before though...

That's when it hit her: the train! That's where she had heard it! In an instant, her mind was filled with memories she didn't realize she had. Her hands pressing against that massive engine, some alien presence taking over her body and giving her the power she needed to cast that spell. That was Artemis!

The glow from inside that frozen block of ice subtly changed as the creature spoke, his words becoming more and more heated. Even though she didn't know the language and apparently couldn't read Artemis' mind, Celes could still read her body language, and surprisingly, Artemis' proud posture began to slump. Was the frozen esper chewing her out?

The one-sided argument continued for several minutes before a silence settled in and it felt safe for Celes to speak up, "That dream I had last night, it wasn't a dream, was it?"

"No," Artemis said, her voice sounding much less proud than it had before. "That was me. Those were my memories from a thousand years ago."

_'A thousand years...'_ "You been alive all this time?"

She nodded. "I was thirty when I became an esper, and seventy during that dream you had. Roughly a thousand years passed before I was caught by this Empire of yours. So, if you're telling me the truth, I am one-thousand and ninety-two."

"Personally," she added, admiring her nails which unsurprisingly were the same color as her hair, "I don't think I look a day over six-hundred."

The blonde woman tried to keep her mouth from gaping at the revelation. "One-thousand and ninety-two years old?"

Again, Artemis rolled her eyes. "Do I stutter?"

Celes grumbled. She had never met someone so sarcastic in all her life. "Sorry... I just... I had no idea espers could live so long, or that they were anything like you."

Artemis snorted.

"You know it's true. You can read my mind for yourself. Most everything the Empire told me about your kind was obviously a lie."

The woman smiled a little ruefully. "Indeed. It's strange, my opinion of humans was similar to the opinion you used to have of my kind."

Celes had so many questions, she struggled to think of which to ask first, "You said you became an esper? How is that even possible?"

Artemis seemed to contemplate answering this, but then crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. The meaning was clear: she wasn't going to share that particular secret.

"What about the battle I saw in my dreams? What exactly was going on?"

"I was killing humans... _All_ humans."

Again, Celes gulped. "_All_ humans?"

"Yes. I suppose genocide only matters if espers are doing it?"

Celes was stunned, but slowly shook her head. The Empire was destined to do the same thing Artemis had tried to do a thousand years ago: wipe an entire species off the face of the planet.

"Why not just kill me now then?" She asked, trying to sound defiant.

Strangely, the dragon-woman did not smile. "The last thousand years have – tempered – my views somewhat."

Valigarmanda spoke once again, "I'm not surprised it took so long. You always were stubborn."

The dragon-woman snorted. "And what about you, Vali? Were you awake all this time?"

It took him a moment to respond. "Yes," he finally said. Celes felt that he didn't sound particularly happy.

Artemis grimaced. "I _am_ sorry."

"Perhaps it was for the best, my friend. My confinement has given me time to reevaluate my life. By attempting to destroy the human race we had assumed the worst aspects of the very creatures we hated."

"I -" Artemis stuttered, unable to come up with a retort.

"If the world is to be at peace, humans and espers must work together."

The woman frowned.

Meanwhile, Celes brooded. The Empire's peace would be a peace built on the destruction of half the world. It was truly no different that what Artemis and her companions had been doing. But if the Returners could bring espers and humans together on the same side...

"My strength won't last much longer, young one. With the world teetering on the brink, perhaps it would be most prudent if I simply grant you my power?"

"What? No! Vali, you can't be serious!"

"It is my choice to make, and you said yourself that the espers are now few in number. I sense in Celes and Terra the power to keep the world from falling into ruin. Who better to stop the humans on their course of self-destruction and total annihilation of our people, than a human, and a half-esper?"

"Vali..."

Again, Celes had no idea what the two were talking about. What did he mean by "granting her his power"? She spoke anyway, "Is there no way I can simply free you?"

"Flame might do it," Vali replied, "Alas, I cannot conjure one from the inside."

"What about you?" the blonde woman asked, turning to Artemis.

"Free _me_?" the esper said out loud, plainly irritated at the interruption. "Why would you want to do that?"

"I'm not a thief. I don't want anything that isn't freely given to me. That includes your power. Had I known, had I been old enough to know, I never would've let them do it."

The esper blinked. She glanced at her frozen friend. "Perhaps you _are_ right about her..."

Artemis turned and walked up to Celes, staring intently at the woman, who for her part could not seem to take her eyes off the dragon-woman's naked form. "It is unlikely my body has survived all this time. I cannot be freed, but someone special to me was taken on the day the Empire broke into my world. I desire to see if there is anything left of her. Can you help me do that?"

Celes nodded dumbly.

"She cheated death once before," Artemis added, thinking out loud. "Perhaps you can help me find her, if she's still alive?"

Celes' only response was to stare at the woman's impressively large chest with her mouth hanging open. Admittedly, now that her eyesight had returned, and the woman's breasts were so close, they were _very_ hard to ignore.

"Oh, for the love of –," Artemis snapped her fingers in front of the blonde's face. "Hey! Eyes up _here_!"

Celes blinked and blushed deeply. "Sorry..."

The dragon woman snorted. "Better. Now, do you have any idea where she might be? Where _any_ of the captured espers might be?"

Celes stared into the woman's eyes, partly to show she was sincere, and partly to keep her own eyes from drifting any lower. Artemis' own eyes were still glowing, but they weren't overpoweringly bright like they had been before. Now she could see the woman's pupils through the glare.

"She- she might still be in the Magitek Research Facility," Celes suggested, though she had no way of knowing for sure. If this other esper truly was captured at the same time as Artemis, she must've been in the facility for twenty years now. Did they keep espers for that long?

Artemis nodded. "Then you will take me there," she said confidently.

Celes shook her head. "No! I have to find Terra. She's all alone out there. She has no idea what's happening to her!"

Surprisingly, the woman smiled. "Interesting..." she said without elaborating. "And it doesn't bother you that your friend is an esper... or at least, _half-an-esper?_" she added, glancing over her shoulder at her frozen companion.

"No!" Celes cried out defiantly, "Why should it?" How dare this woman imply that she was so fickle?

"Hmm..." Artemis' grin seemed genuinely amused, "You're a strange sort of human, aren't you?"

Celes ignored the question, assuming it to be rhetorical. She noticed how the frozen esper and his icy prison still pulsed with a blue light, but it was growing weaker by the minute now. Everything, even the world around them, seemed to be fading.

This dream, or whatever it was, was coming to an end soon.

But still, Terra's plight weighed heavily on her mind. She absolutely had to find her as quickly as possible. What if she ended up in the Empire's clutches? The idea was enough to make Celes vow to storm Vector itself, if she had to. "Can you tell me where Terra went?"

"Ramuh is calling her," was Artemis' cryptic answer.

"Ramuh?"

"A friend of mine."

Celes grunted. These terse responses were profoundly irritating. "An esper friend?"

"Do you think I have any friends who _aren't_ espers?"

The former general snorted. _ 'Good point.'_

Artemis grinned.

"_Why_ is he calling her?" Celes asked.

The dragon-woman shrugged. "Couldn't tell you. He calls us when he wishes to talk. The call is almost impossible to ignore. Perhaps he senses your friend's distress?"

Well, that idea was certainly reassuring.

"But who _is_ Ramuh?"

"I told you, he's a friend of mine. A trustworthy one."

Celes grunted again.

"And what about me?" Artemis asked, "After you find Terra, will you find out what happened to my friends?"

Celes nodded. "The Magitek Facility is in the Imperial capital. You know I'm with the Returners now. There will come a time when we will have to assault the capital directly."

There was a scowl. "Your army is weak. I have no desire to sit around in your head for the next twenty years, or however long it takes, while you defeat this Empire of yours."

"Then I'll think of another way, even if I have to go there alone."

"Very strange indeed, that you would do so much for me..."

A silence followed. Artemis, her frozen friend, even Celes herself were growing increasingly transparent. "Please tell me this is a dream."

"More or less," Artemis replied. "It's easier to get your attention this way. Sadly, Vali's power won't last for much longer. When he loses consciousness you will wake up."

The blonde woman nodded. "We'll need heat to free your friend."

"Indeed. It's too bad _your friend_ isn't here to help us with that."

Celes narrowed her eyes at the way Artemis drawled out the word 'friend.' "We'll find some other way."

The woman stood where she was for a moment, contemplating. "I do not trust you, but I can't exactly do anything without you, can I?" She paused, almost as if she were having an unvoiced conversation with herself. Sadly, the mind-reading ability Artemis possessed didn't seem to work both ways. "_Fine," _she said, after a moment. "But if this is a trick, I'll find some way to end you. I swear it." The disappearing woman walked up to Celes, and she flinched backwards when the esper seemed to pass right into her.

"Then it is done," Vali said solemnly. Release me, and I shall grant you my power. Have faith in yourself, and your friend, young one."

Then there was flash of light, and the next thing Celes saw was pitch blackness.

* * *

><p>"Celes!"<p>

She found herself gasping, unable to breath.

Without warning, she was pulled back and out of the snow bank her face had been planted in. She sputtered and coughed as she tried to catch her breath. Her voice came out raspy, "Locke?"

"Whew, I was worried about you for a second."

"Where is she?"

"Huh?"

"You didn't see her?"

"See who?" he asked, looking around. "You mean Terra? She was pretty hard to miss."

"No, _Artemis._" Locke stared at her blankly. "You know, the _naked dragon woman?_"

His eyes widened, raising a hand to Celes' brow. "Um... are you sure you didn't hit your head when you fell?"

Angrily, she swatted the hand away. "You didn't see her?"

"I saw Terra transform and fly away, just like last time. I only just managed to hang on to the edge of the cliff when we both got knocked back. By the time I climbed back up, I found you with your face planted in a snow bank."

The woman moaned.

...

"I was hoping you'd be able to come up with something a little more impressive," Celes groused.

Edgar shut off the torch and lifted up his welding mask. "I'm doing the best I can with the tools we've got."

She snorted as Edgar took the mask off. "It's not melting, is it?"

"Not even a little bit," he admitted.

"What if we move it to Narshe?" Sabin asked. "We could place it on one of those steam grates."

"I wouldn't, if I were you," Banon interrupted, "The town government doesn't want that creature anywhere near Narshe."

Celes wanted to punch something, preferably the mayor. Mere hours ago they had all risked their lives to defend this stupid town. And now this _politician_ was between her and this esper's power, power that could be used to save Terra, and perhaps the world.

'_Ooh, can I help you punch him?'_

Celes' eyes widened. She opened her mouth only to remember that she didn't need to speak out loud. _'How come I can still hear you?'_

'_You're still highly magically charged,' _Artemis replied._ 'It'll wear off after you cast enough spells, or it will simply wear off over time.'_

'_Oh,' _Celes thought,_ 'Awesome...'_

"It probably wouldn't do any good," Edgar added, completely oblivious to Celes' internal dialogue with the esper in her head, "I should've been able to melt it at least a little. Whatever this stuff is, it isn't normal ice."

Celes nodded. As she now understood it, the ice was intended to capture espers alive, so it wasn't a surprise that it would have magical properties. "How about we drop it on the mayor's head? Either it breaks, and the esper is freed, or it doesn't and the mayor is still dead. It's win win."

Everyone laughed, including a certain esper.

'_I like you. You remind me of me.' _Artemis said, her voice was annoyingly jovial.

It was just what she needed: a not particularly friendly entity living in her head and providing a running sarcastic commentary on everything she did. It also seemed unfair that Artemis could read her mind, but she couldn't read Artemis'. Though when she concentrated she did seem capable of at least feeling the creature's emotions.

'_What happens when I can't hear you anymore, like before? Do you go to sleep or something?'_

'_Well, it feels like a dream, in a way. My surroundings become more uncertain..."_

'_But you still see everything I do?'_

There was a pause. _'More or less. But I try to ignore the more, um - unpleasant - parts.'_

Celes couldn't help but make a face. _'Eww...' _She was never going to be able to use the bathroom again._  
><em>

"Oh come on, Celes. He's not _that_ bad!"

"Huh?"

"The mayor. We could try reasoning with him?"

The former general rolled her eyes. "I think the mayor would prefer it if we all just took the esper with us and never came back."

Banon laughed. "Indeed."

Edgar was standing now, inspecting the frozen creature closely like it was the world's largest diamond. "Can you wake our friend here up and ask him?"

Celes shook her head. "I've tried. I don't think my magic is powerful enough to do it on my own." Only Terra seemed to have that kind of power, and the fact that she was apparently part-esper might also be necessary. Valigarmanda was apparently nearly completely drained now. She could barely feel his magical energy anymore. Celes wondered if he had expended all his strength in that dream she had shared between him and Artemis.

"And what about _your_ esper friend?"

Again she shook her head. Banon had been fascinated to learn that the esper that had been forced to give Celes her powers was somehow still alive inside her. For her part, Celes could see little good in it. Sure, she had regained her esper-granted powers, but now she had a creature reading her mind, and seeing everything she did. Besides, how much information could you get out of an esper who lost everything she had thanks to the human race?

_'If I were in her position would I tell her anything?'_

And if she didn't get some sleep soon, she felt like she might go mad. Would she even be able to sleep with a fully awake esper rattling around inside her head?

'_Hi!'_ Artemis chirped, with an irritating amount of enthusiasm.

Celes briefly shut her eyes and tried to filter out her sarcastic friend. "I've done it once before," she finally admitted, answering Edgar's question. The memory what happened with the train was now crystal clear in her mind. Summoning up all the power had somehow awakened Artemis, if only temporarily. "But it took a lot out of me. For the longest time I didn't even know what had happened. I'd rather not go through that again."

"Then it appears we have no other choice," Banon said.

Celes nodded again, her fatigue temporarily forgotten. She kept it to herself, but there was something pulling her in the direction of the south-west. Was that the call Artemis had spoken of, or was it just her gut instinct? She didn't know. Artemis was keeping silent about it, but in the end, she supposed it didn't matter. They had nothing else to go on.

"We leave for Figaro in the morning."

* * *

><p>Next Chapter: The search for Terra.<p>

* * *

><p>AN - Shh, shh... it's going to be o.k. Celes and Terra won't be separated for long :)<p> 


	7. Figaro Up, Figaro Down

"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr

Chapter 7: "Figaro Up, Figaro Down"

...

"Ah, _bravo_, Figaro, _bravo_, _bravissimo_,

On you good fortune will always smile."

- Figaro, from Rossini's_ 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia'_

...

Four days later, in the desert far to the south-west of Narshe…

…

Celes unscrewed the cap from her canteen and took a sip of water.

It was early morning, and the windless desert air was still a little on the chilly side. The sun rising behind her back marked the start of what would hopefully be the day that she and her Returner companions finally reached Figaro castle.

Being out here, on the march, brought back memories of her former life in the Imperial army; memories that were actually pleasant for a change. She had found herself missing that feeling of camaraderie, that feeling of _purpose_ she used to have when marching side by side with her troops towards a definable end: capturing a town, putting down a rebellion, or returning home.

And while she wasn't great friends with any of her current companions, or even in command of her own army these days, those old feelings were still there, washing away the uncertainty she had felt for the past several weeks, if not months or even _years_, of her life. She finally had a mission again; a sense of purpose... and that feeling was like a flame that burned continuously inside of her, keeping her from falling into despair or apathy. To her surprise it was a flame that burned far brighter now than it ever had in the old days.

The old days had been simpler… or perhaps, Celes thought, _she_ had been simpler, in the head that is. It had been so much easier to just let the higher-ups do all the thinking for her. Now she was thinking for herself.

She sighed and for a while tried to concentrate on the motion of her feathered mount as it carried her across the desert. She liked this simple feeling of being on the move. Riding a chocobo was something she found rather comforting, like putting on a pair of old combat boots.

Her boots, in fact, were the only part of her old uniform she still had on.

Apart from them, she was wearing the same mithril plate and chainmail armor loaned to her just before the battle of Narshe. At the time it had made sense to wear something new - the last thing she wanted was to be mistaken for an Imperial officer and get stabbed in the back on the field of battle - but now the shining armor was actually _hers_; a gift from Banon out of his own pocket. As her chocobo moved swiftly across the undulating terrain she admired the way the deceptively delicate looking mithril rings reflected the sunlight. It was amusing to think that, back in Vector, she'd had not a few suitors attempt to gain her affections with some kind of beautiful thing: a brooch, a ring, or some other such trinket. Perhaps they should've tried chainmail instead?

The thought brought a smirk to her lips.

Then her eyes self-consciously darted from left and right and she was glad to note that neither Edgar nor Sabin had noticed.

Riding three abreast they had just ascended a hill but there was little to be seen from the top except dirt, rocks, and the occasional cactus.

In other words, it was a lot like the last five-hundred or so hills.

She looked down at her lap. Her new leg plates didn't quite fit perfectly yet; there hadn't been much time before or after the battle to tend to that particular problem. But as well-fitted and comfortable as her old Imperial general's armor had been, it absolutely had to go. Those expensive custom fitted pieces of metal reminded her too much of the botch she had made of her life so far, but far worse was how that old armor would've reminded _Terra_ of that fact as well.

Her old suit of armor had probably been melted down already, and it honestly felt good to leave her old life behind; a life that had enabled Kefka to torture such a sweet girl, a life where Celes' greatest "achievement" had been the burning of Maranda.

So many medals and accolades had been showered on her after that atrocity... The memories made her cringe, and the fact that she had gladly accepted them all at the time made her sick to her stomach.

Celes sighed. _'Good riddance,'_ she thought.

And so the only physical things she had to remind her of the old days were her boots, her currently stowed away cape, and the few other remaining contents of her bag. She turned the canteen around in her free hand. It was adorned with a circular silver plate engraved with the banner of the Third Army over an idealized skyline of Maranda. This canteen had been a gift from the Emperor himself. He knew she preferred practical gifts.

The group of riders reached the top of another barren hill and began a slow descent. In the distance Celes could see sand dunes... Unfortunately that was precisely where they were headed. A sea of dunes wasn't exactly an ideal place to fight a battle, and there were definitely Imperial troops out there somewhere.

She screwed the cap back on her canteen and took a deep breath of the dry air. The temperature was rising quickly.

It was remarkable what a difference a few days' travel made in her surroundings. Narshe had easily been the coldest place Celes had ever set foot in, and this place, the Great Figaran desert, might very well have been the hottest. Fortunately, being an ice mage meant she didn't feel the heat to the extent that her companions quite obviously did.

And on those rare moments when she actually needed to cool off it was nice to be able to summon ice at will.

The first day and a half of travel out of Narshe had been the easiest; a Figaran train had taken them as far south as the village of Lindoro, which sat on the very edge of the desert, right at the point where the trees of that endless forest she had blundered through days before became small shrubs. Just outside of town, the railroad tracks had been uprooted and smashed under the heavy feet of magitek armor. The whole scene had the look of something that had been destroyed for the joy of it, like a child pulling up flowers and tearing them apart just because he could, rather than a calculated effort to ensure no relief of the siege of Figaro Castle.

In other words, it was without a doubt the handiwork of Kefka Palazzo.

Edgar and Celes had expected him to cut the rail links south, but they soon learned that the mad clown had also set fire to every town along his path. In fact, Kefka had so well succeeded in frightening the people here that the vast majority had yet to return.

Narshe had been lucky.

At least that particular storm had past. With Kefka dealt with, all their efforts were now on finding and routing the Imperial forces that held Figaro's castle under siege. Then, with the Imperial army out of the way, the Figarans could move to block the caves through the mountains and confine the Empire's forces to South Figaro and the plains surrounding it.

Narshe and the Returners would be safe - at least temporarily - and Celes and the men willing to continue on with her would be free to look for Terra.

Surprisingly, the Figarans had at least one advantage as far as the current siege was concerned: their castle could submerge itself under the desert sands.

Absently, Celes scratched her temple.

Physics was not her strong suit - in fact, when she was younger she tended to doze off whenever any tutor so much as mentioned the subject - but the very idea of a moving castle was unfathomable to her. And if Celes hadn't seen and done half a dozen unbelievable things herself in the past week alone she would've dismissed the idea out of hand.

But, since meeting Terra a week ago, she had stopped a train with her bare hands, fought off an Imperial army, watched a woman transform into an esper and fly off into the sky, and then discovered that she had one living in her head. So, what did she know about what was possible and impossible anymore?

Still, Celes thought, even such a technologically advanced fortress as Figaro surely couldn't stay underground indefinitely. Even if fresh air was somehow not an issue, food and water certainly would be. And, according to the soldiers they had captured in Narshe, the Imperial army had the resources to wait as long as it took. Indeed, with the tunneling machines the Empire had brought to widen the path through the caves between South Figaro and the desert here, perhaps the castle wasn't as safe underground as it might seem.

But oddly enough, when Celes had broached the subject of Figaro and the Imperial siege with Edgar and Sabin they had both seemed completely unconcerned.

Celes had the distinct impression that they both knew something she didn't.

This annoyed her greatly.

It was obvious there was something she wasn't being told, but technically, even though she was now officially a Returner and a general once again, this was a problem for Figaro and its king. There was nothing for her to do but trust Edgar's judgment on this and assist in any way she could. Nothing could be more insulting for a general, _or_ a king she assumed, than to have their command usurped.

The young king of Figaro was now riding ahead of her with his brother alongside. Sometimes Locke rode beside them both - he and Edgar were apparently great friends - but occasionally he scouted far ahead, and other times he rode alongside Celes and they chatted a bit. Cyan, the proud knight of Doma, rode many steps behind, ostensibly to guard the rear, but undoubtedly he was keeping an eye on her.

The wild-boy, Gau, was the only one of their group who had a refused a chocobo of his own. For whatever reason, perhaps something to do with the kinship he felt with animals, he had been unwilling to ride one. Still, sometimes, when sufficiently tired, he would ride with Sabin, falling asleep against the huge man's back.

If only she had thought to pack a camera before she defected.

They kept up a relentless pace as they rode south on their feathered mounts and Edgar skillfully led them from waterhole to waterhole. When the heat was at its most oppressive they would stop and give their chocobos a rest. Sleep was difficult out here, but they each would catch what hours they could. Had she been alone, Celes would've pushed even harder. Terra was out there somewhere, and she would find her if she had to search the entire world over twice.

The few people they had passed on their journey south hadn't seen Terra fly overhead, but there was a strange feeling Celes couldn't explain that seemed to be guiding her on, first to the south, but now more to the west, in the same direction as Figaro Castle. She supposed it was too much to hope for that Terra was there waiting for her.

Artemis was keeping silent, though Celes could still vaguely feel her presence. She tried calling to her.

_'Artemis, are you there?'_

There was no answer.

_'Artemis?'_

The response sounded annoyed, which was fairly typical of the esper even on a good day, _'Yeah?'_

_'I'm still getting this feeling... something's pulling me to the west. Could that be Terra?'_

_'It's Ramuh.'_

_'Oh,' _she thought._ 'You've mentioned him before...' _ Drawing the esper into an extended conversation was a difficult challenge, and she did her best to coax the woman into speaking. After all, Artemis was over _one thousand years old_... who knew how much wisdom and knowledge must she have acquired in all that time? Celes wanted to know all she could. She was naturally inquisitive.

_'We all listen to Ramuh,' _Artemis said, a tiny hint of reverence in her voice. _'He is the greatest and wisest of us. I went to him after I became an esper; we all do.'_

_'Oh...'_ If all newborn espers were drawn to this Ramuh, then surely Terra would be too. But wait, if _Artemis_ went to him -_ 'Ramuh is even older than you are?'_

_'Much, much older.'_

_'Wow,' _she thought. It was practically unfathomable. Though now she was reminded of something else she wanted to know about,_ 'You never told me how you became an esper. I always assumed they were just born that way.'_

_'You assumed incorrectly,'_ came the terse response. Clearly, the subject was still a sore one, or perhaps Artemis simply didn't trust her not to misuse the information.

_'Will you tell me?'_

There was a long pause. For a second Celes thought she had finally succeeded in annoying the woman too much._ 'I could show you, actually. But it's a long story -'_

_'Show me?'_ Celes repeated in her thoughts.

_'Yes...'_ Artemis' responses seemed increasingly... irritated.

That was one of the many difficult things about 'talking' to Artemis; the esper could hear everything Celes thought so there was no way to censor herself. Anything that came to mind Artemis would hear. Artemis heard and saw _everything _Celes did. Indeed, it was likely she felt, smelled and tasted everything too.

_'I can manipulate your dreams,' _the esper finally continued, _'I can show you what I've seen with my own two eyes.'_

_'That's why I had that vivid dream about you killing all those people?' _Celes asked.

There was another sigh. _ 'It was that damned village - Narshe, you called it - it brought everything back. Even after the landslide and a thousand years, the place still looks almost exactly like it did on that day.'_

_'So, if you could show me that, you could also show me how you became an esper?'_

_'I suppose I could'_ she drawled, _'if you're so damned interested...' _A pause. _'You would need to be asleep though. Your mind is much too busy when you're awake. It's hard to direct your thoughts like that unless I have a lot of power at my command.'_

_'Hmm...' _Celes thought about this for a moment. _ 'Wait... you can control my thoughts?'_

_'To an extent. I did it on the train, you remember,' _another sigh._ 'It's hard to explain.'_

Celes could buy that. She was after all talking to an esper that lived inside her head. That was even harder to explain.

_'I suppose it couldn't hurt to show you. The memories aren't entirely pleasant however...'_

_'I would like that,' _Celes thought. '_ I want to know more about espers... and about you.'_

Artemis' tone was somewhat disbelieving, _'And what do I get out of it?' _she asked.

_'Um...'_ Celes thought about it for a moment. _'I could buy something when we get to the castle?'_ she offered weakly. _ 'The Figarans are famous for their tiramisu.' _Her mouth watered just thinking about it, in fact. _'You can taste everything I taste, right?'_

The pause that followed was embarrassingly long.

_'You humans are completely ridiculous.'_

_'Says the sarcastic thousand year old esper residing in the head of one.'_

'_Hmmph.' _That was the last thing she heard Artemis say for quite some time.

Amused, but alone again in her mind, Celes could do little but spur her companions on and hope that Terra was all right, and that this 'Ramuh' Artemis had spoken of was truly as trustworthy as she made him sound.

She doubted the esper would lead her to her death. After all, that would also mean the death of Artemis.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sight of Gau running alongside her mount. Quickly, mount and rider came to a halt and the boy shook his head to get his wild, green hair out of his eyes as he looked up at her.

Celes raised an eyebrow and the panting boy held out his hands and cupped them together. Apparently, unlike the other men in their little group, Gau wasn't yet old enough to learn how to pretend that he was neither hot, nor thirsty.

With a slight smile, Celes reached into her bag and pulled out her canteen again. Unscrewing the cap, she paused as she held her empty left hand over the mouth of it. With a small flash of light, tiny shards of ice appeared and dropped into the warm water below. Finished, she offered the entire canteen to him.

The young boy accepted it with a grin, blushed noticeably when he continued staring at her for a bit longer and then ran off.

The woman shook her head. Gau had a remarkable ability to disappear into the wilds and reappear exactly when he was needed, or needed something.

Edgar and Sabin were now stopped, waiting for her at the top of the next hill.

"The castle isn't much further," Edgar called out as she approached. "Roughly thirty miles."

Celes smirked. All she could see were sand dunes in that direction, and there hadn't been much variety to the desert landscape beforehand. Sometimes, if she were lucky, the monotony would be broken up by rocky peak of wind-blasted sandstone or the bleached skull of some unidentifiable creature. "How can you even tell?"

"I've lived here all my life," Edgar replied, sounding a little wistful. "Sabin and I once built a tiny fort out of stones on that rise in the distance."

"And this castle of yours can really submerge under the sands?" Granted, everyone had told her as much, but still, she couldn't resist the impulse to ask the question out loud again.

"It can do more that, I assure you."

On that particular point Celes had tried to get more out of him, but he was still irritatingly insistent on keeping his secret. In the end she let it drop.

"So," Sabin began, "what's for breakfast this morning?"

Celes snorted as she opened her saddle-bag and pulled out some bars wrapped in foil. Sabin kept the rations for lunch, Cyan for dinner, and for some reason she got stuck with breakfast. "Month old Imperial ration bars," she said with distaste, "cooked at a thousand degrees for thirty seconds, just like mother used to make." There was a notable lack of enthusiasm when she dolled them out to each man, with the exception of Gau who was for some reason always absent for breakfast.

Sabin grimaced as he took his share. "I thought you said you were an orphan?"

Celes laughed faintly. "Most magitek knights are," she replied. "The Imperial government is our mother, and the Emperor is our father."

Cyan frowned at this but said nothing. He took his bar and guided his mount several steps away to eat alone.

"Not exactly a warm family environment," Locke muttered before he reluctantly bit into his meal.

All of Celes' good humor disappeared and her expression darkened. "No, it really wasn't."

Edgar's smile was rueful. "Come on," he said, urging his chocobo forward. "We can get to the castle by mid-afternoon if we move quickly, and I'm sure you'll find it very welcoming indeed."

...

Having barely managed to keep down her lunch, Celes and her feathered mount settled into line a few paces behind Edgar and Sabin, and a few paces ahead of Cyan. Locke rode alongside her.

Celes found she got on surprisingly well with the slightly older man, and Locke seemed almost as worried about Terra's fate as Celes was. So, that was a plus as far as she was concerned.

Sometimes during those few hours when it wasn't blisteringly hot, Locke would edge his chocobo over to Celes' and they would talk as the seven of them continued on to Figaro castle.

"So," she began, "did you really sneak into South Figaro after the Empire had captured it?"

The man nodded. "Banon sent me there to sabotage the occupying force. I had hoped to cause enough chaos to keep them tied up for some time."

The former general couldn't hold back her grin. Sneaking into an occupied city was no easy task. "And how did you do?"

Locke shook his head and made a so-so gesture with his hand. "Clearly, I was too late to stop all this."

"So was I," Celes said, her voice turning darker. "The main force had left South Figaro a few days before I escaped."

"You really did a number on that guard, by the way. He was bedridden the entire time I was in town."

'_Oops,'_ she thought a little sarcastically. "That's what happens when people get in my way," she said, only half-jokingly.

"Duly noted," Locke replied with a smile.

They rode side by side together for several minutes. The heat was quickly rising. In the distance she thought she saw a cactus move, but it was probably just a mirage.

Eventually, Celes finally voiced a question that had been nagging her for days. "Locke, why are you coming with me? To find Terra, I mean."

The man's eyes drifted to horizon ahead. "I knew someone like Terra once," a pause, "We were exploring some caves together... _treasure hunting _if you like," he added, glancing over at Celes. The woman smiled a little warily, she doubted this story would have a pleasant end.

Locke sighed. "There was an accident, she fell and hit her head... I got her back home, but when she finally recovered from her coma she didn't remember me or anyone else."

"Oh..." Celes said weakly.

"Later she died in an Imperial attack, but just before the end she said my name. My name was the last thing on her lips. If I had been there... if I hadn't let her parents drive me away..."

"Locke -"

He didn't let her finish, perhaps he didn't _want_ her to, "What about you, Celes? You've already told me why you wanted to join us, but why are you here searching for Terra? Does it have something to do with that esper in your head?"

Sometimes Celes wondered if everyone else thought she was insane when it came to her insistence about there being a living esper inside her. Locke, to his credit, never seemed to think that way. "No. I'm not sure if Artemis cares about Terra one way or the other." She paused, "But I do."

The young man looked like he wanted to ask why, but he restrained himself. Unbidden, Celes continued, "Terra's like..." the former general sighed as she struggled to come up with the right words, "For as long as she can remember, she's been a slave to the Empire. Once she was old enough to show real magical power, she was kept under constant guard in a cell that would've made my closet back in Vector look spacious by comparison. When they thought she might object to their plans, they'd put that damned slave crown on her head and the next thing she would see after a day spent killing were the wounds and the blood from whatever horrible thing they had had her do that day."

Anyone, myself included, would've been warped beyond recognition by such treatment. They would've lost their humanity. Yet, Terra is more incapable of doing evil than anyone I've ever met..."

Locke was silent for a long moment, "When you put it like that, I think I understand."

Another silence.

"Does it bother you at all that she's an esper… or half an esper?"

Celes shook her head. "Everything I thought I knew about espers has been a lie. They're not monsters. They're just like us, Locke..."

The man nodded. Celes wondered what his thoughts on the creatures had been before they found that frozen one in Narshe.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw distant riders kicking up a cloud of sand. Cavalry units, perhaps? "Edgar!" she called out as she stopped her mount dead in its tracks.

Everyone else came to an immediate stop and looked where Celes was pointing.

Edgar already had his spyglass out, but the second he looked through it his posture relaxed. "It's all right," he called out as his hand rummaged through his saddlebag. Smiling when he found what he was searching for, he pulled out something resembling a short muzzled gun.

Without comment he fired it into the air. The shot arced high into the sky until it exploded with a surprisingly bright flash of green light which inexplicably hung in the air for several seconds.

Sabin looked curiously up at the lingering light show. "Who are they, brother?"

"They're Figaran, or close to it," the young king finally explained. "Riders from one of the northern tribes."

...

A dark hooded chocobo rider approached them. He called out something in a language Celes didn't recognize, but whatever he said, the tone at least sounded welcoming. Edgar eagerly rode out to meet him, his companions close behind.

These men weren't dressed like any Figaran soldier Celes had ever seen. Their cloaks, their trousers, the scarves worn around their heads... everything was white. Even their chocobos were white. In all her travels she had never seen chocobos like these before. Even as Edgar and their visitor began speaking in earnest, Celes wondered how much she would have to pay to get one of her own.

_'Well, maybe some other time,'_ she thought. She doubted these proud looking riders gave up their mounts so easily.

She counted thirty of them here now, half men and half women it seemed, though some had their faces mostly covered and it was hard to be sure.

Whatever they were talking about certainly involved a lot of gesturing on the part of their visitor.

"These men are tribesmen from the northern reaches of the desert. They call themselves the Eturii." Sabin said as the king and the other man continued their discussion.

"Allies?"

Sabin nodded. "For several generations. The best friends Figaro ever had."

She nodded at that. The Empire signed and broke treaties like they meant nothing, and those treaties seldom benefited the second party in any case. In the case of Figaro, its more than twenty year alliance with the Empire had lasted until Kefka tried to burn the castle down several weeks ago.

Edgar was walking back in their direction looking rather pleased, "Our army is camped near the castle. The bulk of the enemy force is marching towards them as we speak."

"Ask him about Terra," Celes said, trying to keep her tone from sounding too demanding.

Edgar nodded and conveyed the question to their interlocutor. The man's face grew pale and he nodded very slowly. Celes still couldn't understand what he was saying, but he pointed to the sky and drew an arc with his finger from horizon to horizon, pointing finally to the north-west.

"He says that he was on the night watch four days ago when he saw a red woman fly directly overhead. He says she then went north-west, over the mountains, in the direction of Kohlingen."

Celes nodded, briefly satisfied. There was no way that could be anything but Terra.

That feeling in her gut still pulled her more to the west than the north, but with so many places Terra could possibly be, it would be wiser to follow the clues than just blindly follow her instinct.

"It will take weeks to ride to Kohlingen," she said, thinking out loud.

Sabin laughed. "It might take less time than you think."

...

At high noon everyone, both the Returners, and the Eturii cavalry, had met up with the bulk of the Figaran army on top of a nondescript looking sandy hill.

"Our riders have been harassing them for _days_," one of the captains said to Edgar as Celes sat on her mount and looked down upon the approaching Imperial army. "It looks like their commander finally lost patience."

Celes glanced around; she counted a few hundred troops here. That enemy army a quarter of a mile away had to be over a thousand in number.

"You seem strangely confident for someone who is outnumbered three to one," the general said into the silence.

Edgar laughed and elbowed his younger brother. "She still doesn't know about our secret weapon."

A sidelong glance. "Secret weapon?" Celes repeated. "I know about your submerging castle if that's what you mean, but it's another ten miles away isn't it?"

"More or less," Sabin said with what seemed to be a suppressed grin.

Celes' eyes narrowed, "What else are you hiding from me?"

"Just watch," the king said as he hefted his crossbow off his back and leapt onto his mount, "and follow me when the time comes."

...

The Figaran forces remained entrenched on the small hill. It seemed obvious to Celes that they wanted the Imperials to approach from the front, and that's exactly what transpired. Slowly the enemy marched, down from the high dunes and on to a fairly flat sandy plain that lay at the base of the hill. With a spyglass, Celes counted a dozen heavy magitek machines amongst their ranks. They lumbered on rather awkwardly through the sand and much more slowly than they were capable of on solid earth.

Celes blinked. She swore she had heard something. Then she heard the sound again, louder this time, and felt a vibration like nothing she had felt before in her life. Unbelievably, it was coming from below. For a second she thought it was an earthquake.

But then, something completely unexpected happened: on the plain below the ground shook so violently it sent the soldiers in that well-ordered army falling to their knees. Then great stone towers pierced the ground and rose into the sky. One of the towers had a bright blue shield attached to it. _There_ was Figaro castle, rising out of the sands of the desert.

"But Figaro is supposed to be _miles_ to the south," Celes said to herself; she _knew_ this for a fact. It was situated about a mile from a crescent shaped oasis. _'How-'_

Her eyes must've betrayed her confusion. "Everyone here knows that Figaro is capable of submerging beneath the sands," Edgar began. "What they don't know is that when underground the castle can burrow in any direction it likes. It can handle dirt and some types of rock too, but sand is preferable," he added.

_A moving castle_... "Amazing," she said, meaning it completely. "So this is why you live in the middle of the desert?"

The king nodded. "Naturally, if I had my way, the castle would be much closer to South Figaro; for the ladies, of course."

"Naturally," Celes repeated with a roll of her eyes. "Is there anything else? Your castle can't fly too, can it?"

With a laugh, Edgar spurred his chocobo forward. "There's nothing the people of Figaro can't do. Come on everyone!" he cried out. "Advance!"

...

"Celes, stay with me!" The king shouted as they charged through the enemy lines.

She struggled to keep up while dodging fallen enemy soldiers, rivers of sand and rising towers. She had expected a chaotic battle, but certainly nothing like _this_.

"Make way for Figaro!" Edgar cried out, his chocobo trampling confused Imperial soldiers beneath its feet while its rider laughed all the while. "Make way! Make way for the city!"

As they both raced to keep up with him, Sabin had to shout to make himself heard over the clamor, "You'll have to forgive my brother, he gets over excited sometimes."

The well ordered formation of Imperial troops had fallen apart quickly when the towers of the castle broke out of the desert sands. Men fell to the ground, chocobos panicked and dropped their riders, and even the heavy magitek machines toppled over as the castle rose beneath them.

In the ensuing chaos, the Figarans encircled that rising mound of sand and stone, and many of the Imperials, separated from their weapons after falling on to the shifting sands, surrendered without even attempting to fight.

Laughing, she had watched as one of the magitek machines found itself lifted comically high into the air on a pillar of stone. And instead of taking advantage of his unique firing position, the fearful pilot leapt from his seat and jumped over the side.

The confused shouting of Imperial troops now almost matched the volume of the ear-splitting noises the castle was making. The air smelled of smoke and gasoline. It was actually surprising; she half-expected the castle to be fueled by magic.

As more towers and buildings burst from the sands, the bulk of the structure still remaining below ground lifted up a massive mound of sand with it, sending all the Imperial forces on top of it either scrambling, or tumbling, down the sides and into the arms of the encircling Figaran troops. Celes marveled at how efficiently this was all done. Clearly, this was a strategy the Figarans practiced often.

Edgar and Sabin continued their charge through the enemy ranks with Celes close behind until they reached what Celes guessed was the keep in the center of the rising castle. Already, that loud grinding noise was winding down. In less than two minutes the castle had apparently risen almost to its proper height.

Edgar and Sabin's mounts came to a stop and they quickly climbed up metal ladders that ran along the western end of the keep. Celes dismounted and did the same.

Once over the side and on firmer ground, the familiar sight of a castle's parapet surrounded them with small battlements cut into the stone. She had expected to see nothing but a big mound of sand up here, and there was certainly a lot of the stuff still around, but it was now apparent that the sand was dropping into grates built in to the stone floor beneath her feet. From there it was being blown out the side of the walls as the castle completed its rise and slowly came to halt. The three of them were finally left standing on solid stone.

"The entrance to the castle below is right through the door up ahead," Edgar said, nodding at the sand blocked door, his crossbow out as if he was expecting something. "While we're waiting for the sand to clear, let's make sure there aren't any surprises waiting for us."

Unexpectedly, he fired a bolt directly into one of the many remaining piles of sand that still littered the stone floor. "This one's clear," he said with a smile.

Amused, Celes nodded and unsheathed her runic blade. When she found a mound of sand big enough to conceal a man she stabbed it lightly with her sword.

"I don't see anything, brother," Sabin said after a minute of this.

Celes had found some soldiers, but they were already dead, by suffocation she figured. She kept an eye on the door Edgar had spoken of. The sand was draining slowly away from it. Then she caught a glimpse of something black.

"Edgar!" she shouted as she ran to the site. The escaping sand revealed a struggling man clad in the black armor of an Imperial commander. He sputtered as he rose to his feet, threw off his helmet and coughed up an impressive quantity of sand. Apparently oblivious to how the battle was progressing, he grabbed his axe. "You, Edgar Figaro!" he bellowed, "Stand and face me like a man!"

His axe was pointed at Celes.

"Over here, actually," Edgar said from behind. Quickly turning on his heel, the man collapsed to the ground when Edgar clocked him in the face with a gauntleted hand.

Celes' head titled ever so slightly at being confused for Edgar Figaro, and she raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

The King of Figaro shrugged. "Well... _that's_ never happened before. He must've gotten sand in his eyes."

Both Celes and Sabin laughed.

"I think it's the long hair," Sabin suggested, "perhaps you should cut it?"

Edgar turned away in a huff and crossed his arms. "Never!"

The door in front of Celes slammed open, and men came pouring out, the first one stopped in his tracks and was nearly plowed over by the men running up behind him. "My Lord!" the soldier said with a salute.

"It's all right," Edgar said, sounding a little embarrassed as he gestured to get the man to lower his hand. "Get out there and see if the cavalry has saved any fighting for you."

The man saluted again and took off, another three dozen Figaran soldiers following close behind.

Then another man dressed in typical Figaran finery stepped out. "King Edgar? _Sabin?" _The older man looked about ready to cry from happiness. "Oh, this is _wonderful!_"

Behind him, more armored soldiers poured out from the door.

"Chancellor!" Edgar said with a laugh, greeting the man with a slap on the back. "Did we miss anything?"

* * *

><p>Five days later...<p>

...

_'Bloody hell,' _she thought,_ 'All this noise is going to drive me insane!' _ And when you already had an esper living in your head... well, full-blown insanity couldn't be too far off, could it?

And just how crazy was it that she was hundreds of feet underground and trapped inside a giant castle as it drilled its way through the earth? Celes wasn't sure, but if there was a way of measuring such things it would have to rank an eight or nine out of ten for sure.

The constant noises made it sound like the whole structure was about to tear itself apart, and occasionally the shrieks and blasts of grinding stones were so loud and unnerving that even the faces of the castle guards lost color.

And it wasn't just the noise, but also the erratic shaking. It was a bit like flying through a storm in a small Imperial airship. The instant Celes would get comfortable and begin to doze off, the entire castle would pitch violently up or down, or left or right. It was endless.

It had been five days. Five days of constant drilling and shaking as the castle dug its way through sand, dirt, and solid rock.

The first night hadn't been so bad, or even the second really, but the noise and shaking grew steadily worse as the castle traveled north-west and passed under a mountain range the Eturii called Arac Montara, or the Mountains of the Eagle, rather appropriate considering Terra had flown over those very peaks more than a week before.

After the second night, Celes hadn't slept for more than an hour or two at a time; it was simply impossible.

It shouldn't have been so difficult to adjust. She'd spent similarly sleepless nights in a tent, camped out on the battlefield with artillery firing at all hours... though even then the ground hadn't shook nearly as much.

Perhaps she was getting soft?

Celes contemplated knocking herself out by getting tanked at one of the castle's pubs, but even in her exhausted and desperate state the idea seemed like a bad one.

She suspected the castle kept sleeping draughts in stock... but no, she wouldn't _ask_ for something like that. Pride forbade that too.

However, she did contemplate breaking into the stores after nightfall, or rather, what passed for nightfall in an underground castle... But no, too much risk of getting caught.

She had even tried playing chess with Locke. In their most recent game she wound up losing after making only two moves. Surely, that had to be some kind of record.

"Celes, your turn," Locke said. He had been dutifully replacing all the pieces on the board after their last game. It was a good thing the board was magnetized or even playing a game of chess would've been impossible under these conditions.

The blonde woman yawned. _'Pawn to e5.'_

Locke moved. Queen to h5.

His eyes looked almost as bloodshot as Celes' own, and his brow furrowed for a moment before he rather sluggishly moved his knight to c6. He seemed about as interested in this game as Celes was.

The woman yawned and moved her next piece. _'Knight to c6.'_

She had done some sparring against Edgar, and later Locke, but she was much too fatigued to do anything other than embarrass herself if she tried that now. Tired of reading the books in the castle's library, chess seemed like a decent way to pass the time. Edgar and Sabin were either soundly sleeping, or catching up after nearly ten years apart, Cyan avoided her like the plague, and Gau was too likely to try to eat the chess pieces, so Locke seemed like the best option.

And the game kept her mind off of Terra at least.

Or, at least it did until she thought about her again...

Despite her fatigue, that feeling she had before was still there at least; Ramuh was pulling her towards him. Though now, with the castle twisting and turning, she wasn't completely sure about the direction any longer. She couldn't wait to be outside and above ground once again. Hopefully, someone in Kohlingen had seen Terra in the sky that night. She could use all the help she could get.

Locke had already moved ages ago judging by his expression. Was his bishop always there? She couldn't remember.

_ 'Knight to f6.'_ _'Wait,' _she thought, _'was that a good move?'_

Unexpectedly, Artemis spoke up. _'Do you want me to tell you where to move your next piece?'_

Her brow furrowed. _'Do espers know how to play chess?'_

_'No. But then neither do you apparently. You've lost the last three games.'_

Celes rolled her eyes. _'Thanks...' _It wasn't that she was _bad _at chess - o.k, maybe she was - but her fatigue certainly wasn't helping matters.

Locke raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hmm?" Celes mumbled.

The man across the table from her smiled weakly and shook his head. "And queen to f7," he said. He stared at her for a moment, and when Celes didn't pick up on the situation he added, "That's checkmate, by the way."

"Oh... _blast_," she muttered.

Locke's smile grew as he pushed his chair back and stood. "_Try_ to get some sleep, Celes," he suggested, and walked out of the room, gently shutting the wooden door behind him.

Celes was left alone in her little room staring at the chessboard, gas lamps shining brightly overhead. Maybe she _could_ try to sleep again.

The castle shook violently, almost knocking the exhausted woman out of her chair. She let out an irritated sigh. Even generals had their limits. If she knew how to cast a silencing spell, she realized, she might be able to at least get rid of the noise. Sadly, you couldn't just learn a spell by reading a book on the subject. No, you needed to have the latent potential.

It could take magitek knights years to learn all the spells that being infused with an esper's magic gave them, and it took lots of tests and practice to determine was spells a knight might be able to learn. She supposed it was possible that even an esper might not know all the magic spells it had the potential to learn. But Artemis had been alive for over a thousand years...

In other words, Celes didn't have much of a hope of learning a spell if Artemis didn't already know it, and Artemis didn't know any silencing spells... at least as far as Celes knew.

Without warning, the door slowly opened again and Celes saw yellow eyes peering at her from behind the door jamb. A little knowing smirk appeared on her face when she recognized Gau. She gestured for the boy to come in. His cheeks grew redder as he stalked warily into the room, and he appeared to be hiding something behind his back.

"Here," the wild-boy said, quickly pressing a bottle into Celes' hand when he was finally close enough.

"What's this?" she asked, the amused smile on her face growing as she examined the gift. It was a simple unmarked flask with a red liquid inside. She shook it and for a brief moment the contents glowed with a yellowish orange light before slowly dimming and regaining its natural red hue.

The boy answered with a smile of his own, then stepped back and mimed something with his hands. He pointed first to the flask in Celes' hands, and then, throwing his head back, mimed the act of drinking. Pausing for a moment, he rubbed his stomach, blinked his eyes and then lay down upon the hard stone floor, curling up into what Celes assumed was sleep. _'A sleeping draught?' _she mused._ 'Clever boy.'_

The woman laughed. "Thank you, Gau," she said, and the boy jumped up, his expression clearly showing his pleasure. "And you're _sure_ this isn't poison?"

Gau nodded enthusiastically. "Drank some last night. Slept good." Celes nodded. That was by far the largest number of words she had ever heard the boy say in such a short space of time.

"Thank you," Celes said again, quite satisfied. She held the flask close to her chest to make it clear that she honestly appreciated the gift. Gau stood there a moment, his face flushed an impressive shade of red, before he bolted from the room, the door slamming shut behind him. She could hear that wild, joyful howl of his as he ran down the corridor.

"Looks like someone has a crush on you, Celes," she drawled out loud into the empty room.

With an amused smile still on her face, she quickly unscrewed the lid of the flask.

* * *

><p>Hours later...<p>

...

Celes awoke feeling absolutely refreshed. It was like waking up from a long sleep after having not slept in days, which she supposed was more or less the case.

Eyes closed, she stretched out in her bed, pleased to note that the castle was no longer shaking nor making any noise whatsoever. Either they were finally above ground again, or the castle had stopped for some other less pleasant reason... but as no one was currently banging on her door, maybe she could get away with indulging herself for a few more minutes…

She closed her eyes and reveled in the warmth of her comfortable blankets. The Figarans certainly knew how to treat their visitors.

She was so relaxed she didn't even notice when the bed sunk as someone else climbed into it.

No, what brought her out of her trance was the feeling of warm breath against her neck and a clawed hand wrapping itself around her chest.

Celes' eyes shot open. Even in the dark she recognized who it was immediately. "T – Terra?"

But it wasn't _that_ Terra. It wasn't the Terra she had become friends with and had developed a strong attraction towards. No, this was the Terra that she had personally witnessed flying straight into the air after that contact with Valigarmanda. This was the Terra she had first met in the woods. This was Terra's esper half.

And much like their first encounter, esper-Terra was completely naked. And also much like like their first encounter, Terra was eying her like a hungry wolf eyes a lamb.

That magical energy that espers seemed to always exude was back in force as well, though this time it felt rather less intense. Celes thought that if she wanted to, she could get away and maybe find her runic blade and do what she had done the first time they had met.

Yes, that was what she thought of doing. But when confronted by the reality of having a very naked Terra straddling her and now sniffing at her neck... well, that made Celes' plan substantially more difficult to implement.

Her breath hitched as esper-Terra casually draped her body alongside Celes' own, and as a fog fell over the older woman's mind she wondered how Terra could've found a way into her bedroom. It seemed implausible for some vague reason. However, the second the esper began nibbling at her neck any such complicated thinking became impossible.

Incapable of any rational thought, Celes' hands ran through the young woman's hair seemingly on their own. The pink hairs were like silk. Hell, her entire body was wonderfully soft, though there was obvious strength in those muscles of hers.

Being a fire mage, Terra was naturally warm, but even though the esper had pushed aside the covers leaving Celes exposed in nothing but a nightshirt and loose-fitting silk pants, she still felt like she was burning up.

Inexplicably, she felt the bed sink again. Her eyes met Terra's, but this was a fully human, and fully clothed, Terra. She would've jerked back in surprise, but the other Terra was doing a commendable job holding her securely to her spot.

Despite the predicament Celes found herself in, the younger girl was actually smiling back at her, her large blue eyes sparkling with warmth. Panicked, Celes found herself unable to dislodge esper-Terra who now had a leg draped over her lap. The tufts of fur on her upper arms and lower legs tickled her skin, while the esper continued to nibble at her neck. Eyes still locked on Terra's, Celes desperately grabbed the hand that was still clutching her abdomen and tried to pull it off. Esper-Terra only purred louder and sunk her claws in deeper - like a pleased kitten - only this kitten was ripping holes in her night shirt.

_'Bloody hell, her claws are reeeaaally sharp...'_

The other Terra only sat on the bed next to her watching this play out, completely undisturbed by Celes' horribly awkward situation.

The blonde woman found herself stuttering, "I - I - It's not wh-"

Words failed completely as the human girl leaned over her. Celes stared, bewildered, into the young woman's blue eyes. "It's ok," Terra said reassuringly, gently rubbing the back of the esper who had so firmly attached herself to Celes' body. "She's me too."

Celes gulped.

The human-Terra draped herself over Celes' prone body as her esper half growled and reluctantly removed her leg from the warrior's lap, giving her other half room.

If this went on for much longer, Celes was certain her heart was going to explode. What had been a comfortably warm bed was growing into a blazing inferno. Her ears were pounding as Terra's human self leaned in closer and closer…

She stared at those lips, there was nothing in the world she wanted more than to kiss them at that moment. "T - _Terra_..." She couldn't keep herself from stuttering, and never had she heard her own voice sound so breathy.

Terra only smiled; a warm inviting smile that instantly evaporated all of Celes' worries.

Unfortunately for her sanity, just before their lips met Celes finally woke up.

She sat up quickly, heart still pounding, eyes darting back and forth only to find herself alone in her dark room. She huffed when she realized it had been nothing but a dream.

"Dammit, Artemis," she whined, shutting her eyes tightly closed. The esper _had_ to be responsible for that dream. "If you can hear me, stop playing games with my mind!"

_'Oh, please,' _the esper drawled. _'That dream was all yours.' _Her esper companion might've had no physical body, but Celes could practically hear the mocking grin as she spoke those words directly into her mind.

The warrior huffed. "I thought you were going to show me how you became an esper?" Celes hissed the question, only now remembering to make sure no one passing by her room could hear her talking to herself.

'_Well, I __**was**__ going to show you, but your dream was so much more entertaining.'_

With a groan, Celes' head hit the pillow.

* * *

><p>Next Chapter: The city of Zozo.<p>

* * *

><p>AN - A little dream sequence for those of you who miss Terra. It seems that even when the woman is elsewhere, she and Celes still find ways to... um... <em>interact<em>.

_Sort of_. ^^

And no, Figaro Castle can't fly. That's just silly ;)


	8. So Many Emotions

"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr

Chapter 8: "So Many Emotions"

...

"In a single moment so many emotions seize upon my heart

That I cannot express my enormous joy.

Ah! Let silence be my eloquence...

Let all be spoken in my broken words..."

- Elena, from Rossini's _'La Donna del Lago'_

...

Four weeks later...

…

They finally caught sight of Zozo just as the sun was beginning to set behind the city's drab towers of concrete and glass.

It had been a long, hard journey to get here. Thousands of miles covered by foot, by chocobo and by train; from Kohlingen in the far north, south along the wild and mostly empty western coastlands, and then passing east through enormously wealthy city-states with names like Levante and Jidoor. South of Kohlingen they had quickly lost the trail, but thankfully in Jidoor there were many witnesses who saw Terra fly to the north again, towards this place: the chaotic free city of Zozo.

It was free, Celes assumed, because no one wanted it.

Even the train from Jidoor wouldn't stop there. Zozo's only functional station was actually miles outside the city itself. The remaining distance had to be covered by foot...

So she and her companions walked along the main road. Once they entered the heart of the city, the avenue widened and became so crammed full of stands, carts and people that it was less a road and more like one continuous bazaar.

Some of the tradesmen and women were rather pushy and some clearly had no concept of personal space, but for the most part they avoided the four outsiders. Perhaps it was the armor Cyan and Celes were wearing, perhaps it was Sabin's impressive physique, or perhaps it was Celes' forever brooding expression... not that she was_ trying _to be mean, but _dammit_, if another salesman tried to shove some cheap knockoff jewelry in her face they'd have a lot more to worry about than just an angry look.

Despite it all, Celes yawned as she walked. It had been a long day. Actually, it had been a succession of long days; five whole weeks of them, in fact.

Five weeks spent constantly on the move, desperately searching for clues to Terra's whereabouts. Even when she had been chasing down partisans in the aftermath of the fall of Maranda, she had never had so much difficulty tracking someone. Surely, a pink creature flying across the sky, screaming in pain as she did so, would've been hard to miss?

Thankfully, the Jidoorans were just the kind of people to stay up half the night while enjoying their outdoor parties. Half the city saw Terra streaking (quite literally) across the sky.

And so here they were, finally within sight of the end. Celes could feel it without a doubt now; there was something -_ or someone _- fantastically powerful in this city. Not even Valigarmanda or Terra in her esper form had felt like this; magic thrummed throughout Celes' entire body and yet they must've still been a mile from downtown and whatever the source was.

If this truly was Ramuh as Artemis had insisted, then he must surely be the most powerful entity on the entire planet.

And for some reason the world's most powerful creature had taken up residence in Zozo of all places; the city of liars, thieves, the ever present odor of burning fuel, and streets littered with trash. There was only one other place like it in the world as far as Celes knew: her former home; Vector.

"There's a storm about to roll in," Locke said as he walked alongside, "_and_ the sun is setting; we could find a hotel and wait until morning..."

Celes frowned. She knew it would be risky to continue on – she wouldn't have her fearsome reputation as an Imperial general to keep her safe like she did when walking the streets of Vector at night – but Terra was somewhere in this place. Even if Ramuh was a friend, she wanted to see the girl alive with her own eyes. It had already been _five _weeks. Anything could've happened to her in the interim.

"No. I think we should continue on."

She glanced at her traveling companions: Locke, Sabin, and Cyan. Fortunately, it seemed that everyone agreed with her. It was settled then; they would find Terra tonight.

...

Zozo's reputation as a dangerous place was apparently an opinion shared by its inhabitants. As the sun set, the citizens quickly packed up their goods and left the streets looking like a ghost town. Out of the corner of her eye Celes could see curious children peering at her and her companions from behind fences and boarded up windows. The only people still walking the streets appeared to be quite drunk. The quiet of night was only broken by the occasional loud bang or scream.

As the rain began to fall and the wind picked up, it brought the unwelcome smell of untreated sewage with it. Celes grimaced. Her earlier comparison to Vector had been unfair; even in the heat of summer Vector never smelled so bad.

It clicked in Celes' mind just then; she understood exactly why someone as powerful and influential as Ramuh would live here. Zozo was the last place the Empire would ever expect to find an esper. As a hiding place, this city was absolutely perfect.

_'I thought so too.'_

Celes nearly tripped over her own feet; she hadn't heard _that_ voice in weeks. _'Artemis?'_

'_No,' _the esper replied dryly,_ 'I'm the __**other**__ esper that lives in your head. Call me...' _she paused, as if for dramatic effect, _'...Steve.'_

Celes groaned and Locke glanced at her curiously for a second before shaking his head and returning his attention forward, keeping an eye on every window and alley. Quietly, she grumbled to herself._ 'You're hilarious, you know that?' _

_'I try.'_

_'So... where have you been?'_

_'Here, like always,' _came the unhelpful reply.

_'Sleeping?' _Celes ventured.

'_It feels like going to sleep, I suppose. After a while everything just fades away.'_

Celes thought about this as they continued their march into the city center, the street taking an almost cavernous feel as the buildings surrounding them became ever taller. Her strange dreams continued even after Artemis could no longer speak to her, but eventually even the dreams had stopped. Until just a few moments ago, she hadn't heard from the esper in over two weeks. It almost made her feel like her old self... not that she felt that her old self was anything to write home about. It was rather disturbing how quickly she was getting used to having an esper in her head.

It was some time before Artemis 'spoke' again. _'How long has it been since we left the castle?'_

_'Figaro castle?' _ It felt like a lifetime ago. Even in the army she had never traveled so far in such a short period of time. _'Twenty-nine days.'_

For a long moment there was no response. One hand on the hilt of her runic blade, Celes' eyes kept darting from window to window as she walked, eyes narrowing when she saw strangers looking back at her; she didn't want to be taken by surprise.

_'...Oh.'_ Judging by the esper's tone, that fact had come as a surprise; apparently, she really had been asleep all this time. _'Well then... anything exciting happen?' _

Celes quickly ran through the events of the past four weeks in her mind knowing that Artemis could see it all. There had been run-ins with vultures, giant wasps, and roving bands of identically dressed kung-fu fighters... _'Same old thing, really,' _she thought with a smirk.

_'Hah,' _the esper replied dryly.

_'How come I can hear you again?'_

_'Ramuh's power is strong here. Can't you feel it?'_

_'Yes,'_ Celes thought with a mix of awe and dread. She felt like a moth encountering a flame; she was being drawn inexorably to a magical power that dwarfed anything she had encountered before, but she couldn't stop herself. She wondered if this was how Terra felt when she transformed and flew away.

And as she looked up she was now certain that Ramuh, or whatever it was, was on the roof of one of these tall buildings.

"Um, Celes?" Locke said, unknowingly interrupting Celes' internal conversation. "Were your eyes always so... um... _bright_?"

Celes stopped in her tracks, her eyes darting to a nearby store window. In the darkness she could see the bright reflection of her eyes in it... they were actually _glowing_.

_'That's me,'_ Artemis said. _ 'As I said, Ramuh's magic is very powerful.'_

The woman blinked at the understatement. "It's Artemis," she finally muttered out loud. Locke, Sabin, and Cyan had gathered quickly around and were staring curiously at her now. Celes found all the attention profoundly irritating. It was hard to ignore the suspicion that her Returner allies all thought she was possessed and might lose her sanity at any moment. "Ramuh's power is drawing her out, I guess."

Bravely, Locke stepped closer and stared deeply into Celes' glowing eyes. "Hi, Artemis!" he said with a wave.

Celes clenched her fists.

From behind, a loud bang rang out and all four of them spun on their heels, Locke, Cyan and Celes instantly drawing their weapons. Celes could just hear the sounds of a dozen people shuffling about before everything went quiet.

Across the street, a strangely dressed man with dark aviator goggles over his eyes pointed at them from behind the burnt out shell of what had once been the outside wall of an apartment building. "Get them!" he screamed.

At his order, objects came flying over the brick and stone ruins like a rain of arrows.

"Take cover!" Sabin cried out.

It was the last thing Celes heard.

* * *

><p>A very long time ago...<p>

...

A stream ran out of the mouth of the cave, and having only just summoned up the will to enter it, a young blonde haired woman gingerly stepped from stone to stone, doing her best to keep from making too much noise. The last thing she wanted to do was give the dragon any sense that danger was approaching.

When the village elders told the story of Indrahan and how he single-handedly slew a fire-breathing dragon with his club - or was it a spear, she could never remember - they had never described him as skulking warily through the dragon's cave, scared of being burned alive.

Diana would do her best to live up to Indrahan's example, and she at least looked the part, dressed as she was in the finest mail she could afford, but it was impossible to keep her heart from racing or her teeth from chattering in the cold mountain air.

When the village storyteller recited those old heroic tales she couldn't recall him ever mentioning how terrified the hero was, how his body shook as he contemplated fighting a creature that was a hundred times his size and breathed liquid fire out of its mouth. She wondered if Indrahan ever thought about running back home and hiding under his bed... not that _she _wanted to do something like that, of course.

She bit back a sigh. Indrahan had been a demigod, and probably hadn't even existed if she was being honest with herself. So how does a flesh and blood human go about slaying a real-life dragon? The myths weren't exactly overflowing with useful information on that point; in the real world there weren't any Wells of Eternity, or women living in lakes ready to bestow magic swords to kill dragons with. Diana had to save a portion of her wages for years in order to afford the obsidian blade she now held in her hand.

All in all, it was hardly the stuff legends were made of.

And even the dragon she was about to slay didn't exactly qualify. After all, Indrahan's foe Vitra had been a demon in the form of a dragon; a destroyer of nations and the bane of all mankind.

Diana's dragon was less a bane of all mankind and more of a colossal jerk with wings.

Every month or so, it would come flying out of the mountains and attack the helpless farmers and fishermen of her village. Unlike the dragons in myth, this one breathed out some form of liquid ice that instantly froze anything it touched. After that, it would scoop its prey up in its massive talons and the unfortunate victim would never been seen or heard from again.

But sometimes it wouldn't take the villagers it attacked, preferring instead to freeze the helpless people in magical blocks of ice and simply leave them there. If they were lucky, the ice would evaporate after a few days, but sometimes it never did.

It all spoke of a kind of malicious intelligence. And Diana could swear that once, as the creature flew away, she could hear it making the dragon equivalent of mocking laughter.

'_Bloody dragons...'_

As she stepped from stone to stone with only the light of her small torch for guidance, Diana envisioned stabbing the dragon in the eye while it was sleeping. Not exactly the most heroic of strategies she would admit, but it wasn't like she knew where the beast's heart was anyway. The eyes seemed like the weakest link to her. If she survived maybe she would embellish the tale by claiming she cut of the creature's head; she'd certainly at least leave out the parts where her teeth chattered, and how she paced back in forth in front of the cave all of yesterday and a good part of this morning before finally getting the nerve to enter it.

Yeah, she'd skip those parts... _if_ she made it out of here alive.

Still, despite her fear she was determined to go through with it. If she came home with nothing she would be the laughingstock of the village. Scratch that... she already _was _the laughingstock of the village. There was nothing for it but to slay the dragon or die.

If nothing else, she took pride in the fact that she had traveled many miles into a land that no one in her village was brave enough to enter. No one, not the hunters, nor the warriors, would dare venture into the mountains. It simply wasn't done.

These peaks were not only infested with dragons, but unexplainable things of all kinds happened here on a daily basis: loud cracking and booming sounds like thunderclaps on clear days, inhuman shrieks, strange moving iridescent lights in the night sky... the list was endless.

She was troubled when the noises - the thunderclaps and wild shrieks - grew in volume as she approached this mountain and the trail of human bones that led to the dragon's cave. The ground shook frequently around here, and the sky took on such strange and unnatural colors that it heart sink. She could easily understand why the old storytellers claimed that the gods battled each other in this place. It felt like she was entering another world.

A bone-chilling wind blew in her face as she climbed through the cave. The stream still ran beneath her feet, making her every step treacherous as she stepped from stone to stone up into the belly of the mountain and into the dragon's lair.

Finally, the ascent stopped and the cave widened into a large room. There, sitting in the center and illuminated by a small hole in the ceiling, was the enormous sleeping dragon she had dreamed of slaying. Winged, blue, and with horns longer than a mammoth's tusks, it was so large it would have dwarfed the tent the chief of her village lived in. And he had a family of _twenty_.

Unfortunately, any hope of ending this quickly and quietly disappeared the instant the creature opened a large and brightly glowing eye.

"Oh, sh -" In a panic, Diana threw her torch at the creature and dashed to the right just as the dragon opened its enormous maw and roared. Cringing in pain as she ran, she clapped her hands over her ears as the sound echoed off every wall in the cavern. It made her want to... well, that was another fact she would need to leave out of her tale, she told herself.

Again the dragon roared again and she dove behind a column of rock. Liquid ice shot past her, like molten lava only blue and unspeakably cold. She'd never felt anything like it before. Even though it missed her by at least a yard, the cold air froze one side of her arm, the skin turning white and frostbitten in an instant. She jerked her arm away and placed the shield between her and the dragon's mouth just in time to hear it roar again, shooting its strange liquid ice directly at her this time. The force of the blast knocked her back and just as she feared, the liquid ice froze the shield and her arm with it, bits of the stuff raining down on her and her armor. She screamed in pain as the blood froze in her body. It was a uniquely painful experience.

The dragon was on its feet now, its wings spread from wall to wall of the cavern, easily fifty or more feet across.

Panting with exertion, Diana's lungs burned in pain as she inhaled the freezing air. The cave reeked liked a carrion pit and she was thankful it was too dark for her to see where the smell might be coming from. Massive columns of ice covered the gray stone walls where the dragon's attack had touched it, reflecting the light from above in a thousand directions. Prying the useless shield off of her arm with her good hand Diana scrambled forward with her sword and struck the creature's foreleg. She hoped that its flesh was not immune to its own attack. Perhaps getting close enough to it would be safer -

Profoundly irritated, the dragon kicked with its foreleg but she managed to dodge it. Safety was definitely a relative concept...

The dragon lifted its head and roared in fury but didn't fire its ice magic at her. Sensing an opportunity, Diana stabbed the belly of the beast deeply with her sword and as it roared again she used the handle to climb her way onto the creature's back. Cursing, she had to abandon all hope of retrieving her sword when the creature threw itself against the cavern wall, its wings slamming uselessly against the rocks in the cave's narrow confines, causing pebbles to rain down upon them and driving the blade further in.

_'Stupid stupid stupid!'_ She repeated the words over and over in her head. No sword, clinging to a dragon's back... what the hell was she supposed to do now?

Despite the freezing temperature in the cave she was sweating profusely. In desperation she frantically climbed up the dragon's neck, clutching her dagger in her right hand as she did so, occasionally swiping at its blue and scaly skin. The knife might as well have been made of cloth for all the damage it did.

The dragon twisted and turned and shrieked. It knew where she was, but as she was still clinging tightly to its neck, it could no longer fire its strange magic at her.

Diana's rapid breaths hung about her in a cloud of ice crystals. She shivered, both from the cold and from fear. If she stayed here much longer she would surely die.

Just as the irritated dragon seemed ready to slam itself against the walls of the cave again, a loud boom reverberated through the cavern, only it didn't come from the dragon.

Rocks came raining down from the ceiling, opening up the hole in the roof, and sending the dragon scrambling backwards for safety. For a second Diana was blinded by the brightening light, but when she opened her eyes again she marveled at what she saw; the sky was purple. The dragon was looking up too. Unbelievably, it pressed itself against the cave floor like a frightened and cornered animal. Its head snapped left and right as though looking for a way out and Diana could see actual fear in its eyes.

The cave went dark and a deep mocking laugh came from above them. The dragon stilled itself and hissed. Whatever it was up there, it was apparently a much greater threat than a silly human playing at being a hero.

She was barely able to hang on as the ice dragon stood and leapt out of the widened hole, its wings stretching out when they finally had room to do so.

Diana had never seen anything so hideous in her life: an enormous demon with dark blue skin, six arms, and bat-like wings was waiting up there. Without a thought, the knife fell from her hand and she found herself gripping the dragon's neck instead. Her unwilling mount landed on the mossy turf under this strange purple sky and dropped low until its wounded chest nearly touched the ground, it's hind legs tensed It hissed at the evil thing, ready to strike.

The demon's laugh was deep and mocking but she couldn't tell if it was laughing at her, the dragon, or both of them.

All at once blue lights appeared in the thing's six hands. The dragon huffed, shot forward and roared; liquid ice shooting from its mouth. But though it hit the evil looking creature, the icy liquid did nothing, instead merely running down the demons body and pooling at his feet like rainwater. With a powerful swipe of its right arms, the demon sent them both flying backwards into a wall of rock.

It might have been seconds or hours before she came to for all she knew. Diana found herself lying against a moss covered rocky outcrop, the dragon's enormous body blocking the way out, its wings covering them both like a canopy.

The dragon's chest rose and fell heavily... somehow it was still alive though it was otherwise not moving. Seeking an exit, Diana pulled herself up the wounded creature's back and onto its stomach. Unfortunately, _it_ was still there.

Upon seeing Diana, the demon's glowing orbs widened a fraction in surprise before it chuckled again. The horror of its hate-filled yellow eyes, black teeth and enormous body froze the young woman in fear. There was no escape. Once more it raised its hands and magic flowed out of them. She shut her eyes just before another explosion resounded through the valley, sending the demon flying backwards.

Another creature, almost as large as the demon, shimmered into view on the cracked rock the demon had just vacated. Diana gulped. Were the old stories right? Was she really caught between two warring gods?

Diana found herself in the presence of a goddess... a living, breathing, very human-looking goddess. The woman's skin was pale, and she wore little more than a blue sash that did nothing to hide her beautiful features. The ground beneath her glowed like gold in the sun and her hair danced in the wind that didn't exist.

The goddess smiled at the fleeing demon, then she turned her attention to Diana who found herself still unable to move. Diana's own thankful smile died when the goddess regarded her coldly; as though she were a noblewoman and Diana were a street urchin who had just tugged on her expensive dress and begged for money.

Dispassionately, she lifted a hand and fired a white beam of light directly at her. Again, Diana was thrown back against the unconscious dragon's stomach. The earth quaked and the both of them tumbled through the widening hole and into the dragon's cave below.

...

Diana groaned... again she had no idea how long she was out for. Her sore body was lying very uncomfortably on a pile of sharp rocks in a small enclosed space... strangely, though there was no light source down here, she could easily see she was trapped in a rockslide.

Her vision still blurry, she forced her right hand forward, then her left. Unexpectedly, her left arm seemed to have completely healed itself in the interim. That was a stroke of luck, she supposed. She was going to need both hands if she had any hope of clawing her way out of wherever the hell she was.

But then she actually noticed her hand, really noticed it. Her tired voice was like gravel, "What the -" Her hand was blue, like the color of the sky. In disbelief, she shook her head, opened her eyes again, and yes, it was still blue. Her heart began to race. This had to be some kind of bizarre hallucination. She clapped her hands against her head, but when she felt what was there her heart nearly stopped. Gingerly, she ran a hand along it. She had horns... just like that dragon.

Her eyes scanned her surroundings... She had horns and blue skin, just like that dragon that had apparently vanished.

Panicking, she tried to get to her feet, but those had changed too, and now she had massive talons instead of toes. Stumbling back onto her hands and knees on the rocky floor, she could see out of the corner of her eye a scaly tail slowly wagging back and forth behind her and knew it for her own.

Another blast rumbled through the cave and the roof of the cavern fell.

She covered her head with her arms and prayed for death.

* * *

><p>Zozo. The present day...<p>

...

"Celes, are you all right?"

The woman groaned in pain. Somehow she had ended up flat on her back. "Sabin?" she moaned, "What the hell happened?"

His face was blur, but she heard him as clear as day, "You got hit in the head with a wrench."

The woman's hands instinctively went to her forehead. She could feel a growing contusion and her hand came back covered in blood. Calming herself, she focused her mind and healed the wound. Strangely, it required a lot more effort than she expected, not that she had ever been hit with a wrench before.

She sighed as she sat up. _'Who throws a __**wrench**__? Honestly...'_

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard Locke's reassuring voice, "Wait here for a moment; we'll get rid of these guys."

Celes nodded dumbly as the two men ran off. Even with the best healing magic in the world, one didn't just instantly get up and return to the fight after taking a blunt object to the head.

She rubbed her temple. The contusion was gone - as was the blood – but, bloody hell, it still stung like a -

_'You're lucky you have such a thick skull.'_

_'Artemis?'_

The response was annoyed, but at least it wasn't laced with sarcasm for a change, _'Yes.'_

Despite the residual pain in her head, Celes' thoughts turned to the vivid dream she'd just had. _'Was that you I saw?'_

Artemis grunted in assent.

_'So... should I be calling you Diana?'_

Another short grunt. _ 'That name means nothing to me now. She was just a foolish girl...'_

"Oh," Celes mumbled out loud as she rubbed her forehead. Artemis used to be human, perhaps she was bitter about that fact? _'I thought she was very brave, fighting a dragon all alone.'_

_'Hmmph.'_

The memories were hard to believe. Fire that was colder than ice, and creatures that would dwarf a Guardian class Imperial tank in both size and strength... it all surpassed anything she had ever imagined. On top of that there was the revelation that Artemis was once human - that was a bit of a shock - But who were those warring creatures, and what exactly happened to her? _ 'I don't understand... there were two powerful creatures, a flash of light, and suddenly you turned into... well, you turned into __**you**__.' _ Somehow, on the apparent whim of a goddess, Artemis had been transformed from human to esper; from full blooded human to half human, half dragon. Was that how all espers were created, she wondered.

_'There's more to the tale,' _Artemis eventually replied, _'but it can wait. You should probably get off your huge ass and go help your friends.'_

Her vision still blurry, Celes struggled to her feet. "I do _not _have a huge ass."

Locke poked his head out of a broken store window. "You say something, Celes?"

The woman's cheeks darkened and she shook her head. She noted that it was still raining.

"All clear," came Sabin's voice from further inside the building.

Celes leaned against a light post, trying to recover herself until her companions rejoined her. Blinking several times, her vision slowly returned to normal. It had been a long time since she had taken a hit like that, and at least during a military campaign she usually had a sturdy helmet protecting her.

"That's one gang down," Sabin said, dusting his hands for effect. "Only another few dozen to go and this city will be rid of them."

Celes grunted. They weren't here to rid the city of gangs, but they would do just that if any more of them were foolish enough to keep her from Terra. She'd just need to learn to dodge their more unconventional weapons.

Cyan came out, hand covering a nasty gash on his arm to stop the bleeding. Though he wasn't the least bit pleased about it, he allowed Celes to heal him. Again, it took much more effort than it should have. Was Ramuh's power dampening all magic, or just her own?

Locke must have noticed her struggling, "Something wrong, Celes?"

"Other than my massive headache? Yes," she said, looking up. Two blocks down was a building of more than fifteen stories, possibly the tallest in the entire city. She pointed to the roof. "Whatever it is, it's up there, and it seems to be affecting my magic." Part of her knew that both Ramuh and Terra must be up there, but she had always been skeptical by nature. She'd believe it when she finally saw it.

Locke and Sabin nodded, while Cyan looked at her with an expression that was entirely inscrutable. Celes again looked at her reflection in a nearby window. In the gathering darkness, her glowing eyes were even more obvious, and now she could see the light from them reflecting off the falling raindrops. She frowned.

...

The magical energy increased with every step they took. After twenty minutes or so of wandering around downtown, Celes finally narrowed the magical source down to the top of one specific building.

"Is this the place, Celes?"

She nodded at Locke's question. They were gathered in front of the entrance to a large, roughly twenty story tall skyscraper. Much to everyone's annoyance, they had a hell of a time finding the way in to this building, quickly discovering that asking for directions from the locals only took them further from their destination.

The exterior, with its cracked plaster and broken windows didn't look very promising, but once in the lobby Celes really began to worry. The walls were covered in crude graffiti and the floors caked with dirt, trash, and what looked to be blood stains. This was a home for drug addicts and criminals, not espers. Had Terra truly been here all this time? She shuddered to think of it.

At the front counter was a solitary man smoking a cigarette and reading a newspaper. With his red bandana and black eyepatch he looked as though he belonged on stage as an extra in a music hall play about pirates.

"I'm telling you, Cyan," Sabin said as both men followed Locke and Celes through the open door, "everyone lies in this town."

The knight of Doma shook his head at his burly friend. "Surely that's an exaggeration."

"I'll prove it." Sabin bellowed at the man behind the counter, "Hey, you! Is this Zozo?"

The clerk calmly blew out a ring of smoke, but didn't look up from his paper. "Zozo? Never heard of it."

Cyan blinked.

With a smirk, Sabin continued, "You wouldn't happen to know what time it is by any chance?"

"Seven a.m," he said, glancing at his watch. "Should be a nice day," he added, smiling wistfully and sparing a glance out the grime-ridden widow to see the rainy street beyond, "Not a cloud in the sky."

Thunder shook the nearby buildings as the rain fell ever harder. Cyan shook his head in complete disbelief.

"See? What did I tell you?"

In defeat, the knight held up his hands.

Locke decided to try his luck, "Have you seen a girl with pink hair and skin around here?"

Terra's unusual description didn't seem to interest the clerk at all. "A girl? Nope. Haven't seen any girls lately."

With narrowed eyes Celes leaned over the counter. "You're lying through your teeth."

Finally putting down his paper, the man gasped, seemingly offended. "Certainly not! I swear it on my mama's grave!"

Frustrated, Celes slammed her hand against the desk and stalked off. If she ever stepped foot in Zozo again it would be a million years too soon. Where were the damn elevators?

Locke shivered at the sight, he knew better to get in the way when Celes was angry.

"So, he hasn't seen her?" Cyan asked, frowning.

Sabin shrugged.

"Hey," Locke said to the clerk as he gestured at Sabin, "What do you think of my friend here?"

He looked the giant man over and shrugged. "He looks like a wimp."

Locke laughed. "I guess that proves it, guys. Nobody in this town tells the -"

Offended, Sabin leaned over the counter and lifted the clerk up by the collar. He stared threateningly into the man's eyes, "Would you like a knuckle sandwich?"

The surly clerk gulped, his complexion turning pale, "..._Yes?"_

Sabin dropped the man and doubled over in laughter.

Celes meanwhile had walked over to the bank of elevators only to find each one as nonfunctional as the last. In front of one, which was nothing more than an empty shaft with metal and concrete debris thrown into it, there was a sign...

"This elevator is not broken..." Celes said out loud with a roll of her eyes. "_Cute_." Shaking her head, she rejoined her friends at the front desk.

"So..." Locke drawled at the clerk who was busy dusting himself off, "Where's the stairs?" The man pointed back out the front door.

Confused, Celes glanced over her shoulder. "Come on," Locke said, grabbing Celes' arm, "it's _this_ way..." The four of them headed in the opposite direction.

"Bloody kids," muttered the man at the desk. "Well," he said out loud in the now empty lobby, "I'd better go help mom with the dishes..."

...

Of course, despite the lack of action in the lobby, this tower turned out to be the base for one of Zozo's many street gangs.

It seemed like every floor they would run into more and more unarmed fighters, not unlike the ones they encountered outside of town. None of them were any match for the four of them of course, especially since both Cyan and Celes wielded swords, Locke had his daggers, and Sabin was more skilled at hand to hand combat than all three of them combined. Still, the gang members were nothing if not determined, and it took Celes and her companions over an hour to reach the top, or rather the second to last floor...

Once there they met a barrel-chested man, wearing nothing but a pair of bright orange and loose fitting draw-string pants, who was so large he completely blocked the way. He was leaning on the metal guardrail, apparently enjoying the view of Zozo at night, even as the thunder rolled and the rain fell on his face.

No one wanted to come forward, so Locke coughed. "Um... excuse me?"

Surprisingly, when the man turned around he greeted them all with a warm smile. "Good day, gentle folks," he said with a bow, his voice remarkably refined. "I am Dadaluma. Can I be of service? I hate fighting, so I guess I'd better let you pass."

Celes tensed, but before she could warn Locke he took an uppercut to the face and went down like a stone. The enormous man cracked his knuckles and continued smiling at them all. Celes unsheathed her sword and took a small amount of comfort in the way the man's smile faltered just a little.

Without a word she charged at him, but faster than she could react he grabbed her sword hand and sent her hard into a wall.

Thankfully, he had no time to take advantage of Celes' state as Sabin lunged at him, fists flying.

Celes was back on her feet in an instant, surprised when Artemis snapped at her, _'What are you waiting for? Freeze him!'_

Biting her tongue, she tried to cast an ice spell but nothing happened.

_'My magic doesn't seem to be working.' _It was like a magical silencing spell but one so powerful it was dampening the entire city!

_'Hmm...' _came the esper's reply._ 'The power is stronger than ever. Ramuh must be on the other side of that door.'_

"Swell," Celes said out loud as she charged at the man, who somehow managed to sidestep her attack without even seeing her. Clearly this man was the ringleader for a reason if both Celes' and Sabin's strength combined couldn't take him down. "If he's so close, then why isn't he _helping_ us?" she hissed.

"Guys?" Locke shouted from the stairwell, "Whatever you've got planned, you'd better do it quick!"

Celes glanced over her shoulder. There was a very, _very_ large number of identically dressed men pounding up the stairs with only Locke and Cyan there to stop them.

She swore under her breath as the still smiling man lunged at her muscular companion, knocking him onto his back as though he weighed nothing.

"Sabin!" Celes was about to dash forward when something passed out of her body. She staggered, her magical power leaving her behind. "Artemis!" she cried out in disbelief. The tall, half-transparent esper shot her a smirk over her shoulder as she advanced on the man who was now crouched over Sabin.

Despite his swollen eyes, Sabin looked up and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Standing over the two men as the gang leader tried to choke Sabin, Artemis ran a hand right through the attacking man's chest. At the sight of a hand sticking through him, Dadaluma was so surprised he threw himself to the side, rolled up onto his feet into a crouch, and looked up at Artemis in disbelief.

The esper stood over him and grinned.

Sabin took the opportunity that was presented to him. He pushed himself off the floor and lunged at the man, knocking him hard onto the cement landing, passing through Artemis' opaque form as he did so. The fall to the floor dazed the gang leader, and Sabin knocked him out completely with a punch to the head so powerful it made Celes cringe with the sound of it.

Without even stopping to catch his breath, he grabbed the massive man and struggled to lift him up. Frustrated, he called out Celes' name for help.

Rushing to his side, Celes grabbed the man's legs and together they lifted him onto the guardrail and with one final shove the unconscious man went over the side. They both shuttered when they heard him hit the ground.

Seconds later, the sound of many feet on the stairwell reminded Celes of the danger they were still in. Only when the advancing men got a look at Artemis did they suddenly begin falling over each other to hurry back down the stairs.

Exhausted, Sabin slid down against the wall.

"So," Celes drawled as she leaned on the guardrail to catch her breath, "What school of martial arts teaches you to just shove people off buildings?"

Sabin smiled even as he gingerly touched his swollen face, "I was thinking of starting my own dojo when all this is over. Perhaps I'll make that the first lesson."

With a laugh, the woman pushed herself back onto her feet again. She felt weak, but not as weak as the last time she and Artemis had been separated. Artemis was still there, half-transparent as before, looking curiously at her outstretched hand. She admired the rest of her half-transparent form and smirked. Apparently, she found her current condition rather amusing.

With the exception of Celes, everyone was staring at the esper with their mouths hanging open.

_'Perhaps it's time for a proper introduction?'_ the blonde woman mused. "Um... guys, this is Artemis." The esper rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

With the exception of Cyan, every one of Celes' friends looked at the esper with red faces. The knight of Doma stared determinedly at the city skyline. Sabin elbowed Locke in the side, "It's a good thing Edgar isn't here to see this," he whispered.

Celes couldn't help but chuckle, "Do forgive her lack of clothing."

Artemis snorted. Despite her lack of physical substance, Celes could hear the esper's sharp looking talons scratching lightly against the concrete floor. "_I've _never had any complaints."

Celes could easily imagine that, though she tried not to. Noting that the men had nothing further to say, Celes bounded up the stairs until she was finally on the highest floor of the building. She steeled herself and approached a surprisingly nondescript looking wooden door. Terra was on the other side, she was absolutely certain of it now.

Also on the other side of this door was an esper older than recorded time...

Cautiously, she turned the knob.

With all the power this floor radiated, Celes was a little surprised to find a nearly barren room on the other side of the threshold. She stepped into what she supposed might have once been a penthouse, only there was little in the way of furniture. The floor and walls were stone, she could see no torches or light fixtures, yet the room was well lit, as if by magic. There were pink mosaic tiles embedded in the floor which ran all the way to the other end of the room -

_'Terra!' _ She hadn't been sure what to expect, but the sight of the woman's body just lying there on a bed was not one of them.

"Terra!" Celes quickly dashed to her side. Terra was still in her esper form, lying peacefully on the bed as naked as the day she flew into the sky over a month ago. Celes breathed out a sigh of relief as she saw the woman's chest slowly rise and fall; Terra was alive. Locke was now standing there looking caught between relieved and flustered. Without a word, Celes pulled a green cape out of her bag and quickly covered the sleeping girl's body with it.

Locke nodded his thanks. The sight of one naked esper was apparently more than enough for him.

There was a grunt. Artemis was looking down on the sleeping woman from the other side of the bed. Curiously, she extended a hand and touched the woman's temple with it. As always, the transparent woman's touch went right through her. She frowned.

Locke's brow wrinkled. "Wait. If your body passes through objects like they aren't even there, what's keeping you from falling through the floor?"

Artemis only leaned against the bedpost and smirked at him.

Despite how content Terra appeared to be just lying there, Celes wouldn't be satisfied until the girl was awake. "How do we wake her?" she asked Artemis.

The esper shrugged, but just then Terra opened her eyes all on her own. In a flash she was crouching on the bed, cape discarded, eyes darting from person to person. She growled dangerously and every one of them stepped back, even Artemis.

Locke was the first to speak, "It's ok, Terra," his hands up like he was trying to calm a wild animal. "We're your friends; we're not going to hurt you."

Terra growled again in response, scooting backwards until her rear end encountered the headboard.

Only then did she seem to notice Celes' presence.

"Hey, Terra," the warrior began weakly. _'Five weeks to think of what you would say when you found her, and __**that's**__ what you come up with?'_

But Celes had no time to dwell on her sudden lack of conversational skills. In an instant, she found herself backed up against a wall with Terra hugging her tightly, as though the girl was afraid the blonde woman would disappear. The action was so swift it knocked the wind right out of her.

"Celes?" Though Terra's voice was still her own – as light and gentle as ever - it seemed to Celes that there was something ancient and primal in it now.

"Terra?" she half-gasped. She didn't know Terra's esper half was even capable of speech.

The half-esper hugged the blonde woman even more tightly. "I - I _knew_ you would come for me."

Celes blushed, her face buried in Terra's wild, pink hair. The girl smelled like a grove just after a summer storm and the air abround her crackled like electricity. "Of course I would," she mumbled, blushing hotly as she heard Artemis snicker.

"Please tell me... what am I?"

She knew what Terra meant by the question, but gave what she felt was the more correct answer, "You're Terra."

Terra breathed out slowly. Her breath was hot against Celes' chainmail clad shoulder. "You're also an esper…" Celes continued, "or at least, _half-an-esper_."

The fragile looking girl gulped. "I… I -" she didn't finish her thought, she could only shake her head in resignation.

"It doesn't matter what you are... you're still Terra. Even if you were half-tonberry we still would've searched for you. We care about you, Terra."

Despite how miserable she felt, Terra smiled ever so slightly. Celes ran a hand up the girl's back, trying to soothe her. Her pink skin was almost painfully hot. "I told you I would help you figure it out," she continued, her voice a whisper. "I promise we will. Just don't fly away again, all right?"

Terra's voice cracked, "I'm sorry... I just - I panicked."

In sympathy, the warrior gently patted Terra's back. She could feel a few stray tears dripping onto her shoulder. "Don't apologize..."

When someone coughed - probably Artemis though she was the only one among them that didn't actually need to breathe - Celes gently pried the younger girl off of her. "Come on," she whispered, nodding at the bed as she pulled the naked woman with her.

Thankfully, while this was happening, all the men were looking everywhere but at Terra and Celes' other esper friend. She beckoned the girl back on the bed, and Terra sat up on it as Celes wrapped the discarded cape securely around her.

Terra recognized it now; this was the very same cape Celes had given her to wear over a month ago.

"Thanks," she mumbled, her pink skin flushing redder with embarrassment. Now she couldn't name a single person who hadn't seen her naked at some point. She raised her knees against her chest and hugged herself as though she were cold.

Artemis, meanwhile, was still there leaning against the bedpost in all her naked glory. She seemed fascinated with Terra's appearance.

"W – Who is this?" Terra asked, blushing all the more furiously at the dragon-woman's brazen nudity.

The esper held out a blue, yet otherwise human-like hand. "I am Artemis," she said with slight duck of her head.

Terra tried to shake the proffered hand, but found her own went right through the transparent creature. She titled her head in confusion.

"Artemis is the esper the Empire used to infuse me with magic," Celes explained. "She's sort of... well... _dead, _you see."

Terra blinked, vastly more confused now. Again she tried to touch the esper, but again her hand went right through her. "Dead? But -"

Celes scratched the back of her head nervously. "It's sort of complicated."

"You're an esper too?" Terra continued.

Artemis leaned forward against the foot post of the bed and nodded, smiling enough to show hints of sharp, almost canine-like, teeth, not unlike Terra's own.

Celes noted that the esper refrained from answering Terra's question with her typical sarcasm. Apparently, _that_ was reserved for Celes alone. _'Figures...'_

"But how can I be…"

"It's possible that either your mother or father was an esper," Artemis replied, "Or at least, that's what Valigarmanda believes."

At Terra's unspoken question, Celes spoke up, "That's the name of the esper you found in Narshe."

Terra looked at her with wide eyes. "You _spoke_ to him?"

Celes nodded.

Terra had about a million questions, all striving to be asked first, when she looked past Celes' expectant eyes and realized she didn't recognize this place. This large room had walls and floors all of stone, but there were no fine tapestries like there had been in Figaro castle, and it resembled no room she had seen in Narshe or the Returner's secret base. "Where are we anyway?"

"We're in Zozo. It took weeks to find you."

Terra had no idea where that was. "_Weeks?_"

"Five, to be exact," Locke replied, keeping his eyes firmly on Terra and definitely _not_ on the esper standing immediately to his left.

The girl's posture sagged. "You came all this way... why?" She looked around at everyone as she asked the question. "Because the Returners need me?"

"You're not a weapon, Terra," Celes said, placing a hand on the girl's bare shoulder. "We're here because we care about you. Trust me, we would've traveled a lot further if we had to." That was true at least for Locke, and it was doubly true for herself.

From her seated position Terra ran her left hand up Celes' outstretched arm. Now that she was seeing it close up, Celes realized that the girl's hands and fingers were actually quite human-like. Only the length and yellow color of her very dangerous looking nails belied the truth... well, that and her pink skin. Terra looked as though she could rip someone apart with nails like that, but thankfully the girl seemed to have no intention of doing such a thing to her.

Still, the presence of that hand was very distracting.

"You're all right?" Celes asked, her voice going ragged. She couldn't remember if she had asked that question already.

The girl nodded weakly, but kept her hand where it was and her eyes locked on Celes' own.

"I'm glad you're safe," Celes mumbled, staring into Terra's bright blue eyes, yet very much aware of the several other pairs of eyes locked on them.

"I knew you'd come for me."

Celes blanched at the sentiment. She still found words difficult to come by, especially with Terra's hand on her arm like that and the way those soft pink tufts of fur growing on her forearm brushed against her skin. "H - Have you been alone all this time?"

The young woman shook her head.

As if on cue there was a bright flash and Celes turned to her right to find an old man suddenly standing there. His white beard nearly touched the floor and in his white robe he looked like a wizard out of some old fairy tale book. In his right hand he held magical staff but, while he radiated an immense and dangerous power, his expression was surprisingly kind.

Artemis dropped to her knees in front of him, her tail no longer swaying back and forth as it tended to do. Celes had never seen her look so... deferential. "Ramuh," she said, her voice quiet.

_'This is Ramuh?' _Celes thought,_ 'He looks __**completely**__ human.'_

"Ah, but looks can be deceiving," the old man said with a smile.

* * *

><p>Next Chapter: Ramuh, and the journey south.<p>

* * *

><p>AN – Sorry it took so long to update. Just a lack of inspiration, I guess. It took me about two weeks before I even really started this one... sigh. Anyway, hopefully I've gotten through that and the resulting chapter wasn't too horrible. The good news is that now Celes and Terra are back together, and I have some neat ideas for the upcoming opera scene. ^^<p> 


	9. Between Life and Death

"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr

Chapter 9: "Between Life and Death"

...

"Like a wilting rose

She stands before life and death!

Whoever is not moved for her

Has a tiger's heart in his breast."

- The Chorus, from Donizetti's_ 'Lucia di Lammermoor'  
><em>

...

Ramuh looked upon the assembled group, his expression warm and inviting. If it wasn't for the immense power of magic radiating off him, Celes would've thought that he resembled an old grandfather welcoming his children into his home. Ramuh looked like nothing more than a kind old man, though admittedly, no man she had ever met wielded such a large ornate staff, or dressed quite like _that_.

Finally, he seemed to notice the crouching, half-transparent esper in front of him, and his eyes widened ever so slightly. "Artemis. I thought..." there was a pause as he shook his head in apparent disbelief, "surely you were..."

"I was," was her answer to his unfinished question.

"Then... your magicite?" He continued, whispering. If Celes didn't know better, she'd say his voice was almost _fearful_. This despite the fact that she was completely unable to follow their conversation. _'What the hell is a magicite?' _she wondered.

Artemis shook her head, keeping it bowed the entire time.

"Most unusual... but please," he continued, stepping forward and somehow placing a hand directly and firmly on the ghostly woman's shoulder, "do stand up, Artemis."

The esper reluctantly did so but kept her eyes glued to Ramuh's feet, refusing to meet his gaze.

"She always did give me an undue amount of deference, I'm afraid," the elder esper said to the humans now gathered around Terra's bed. His gaze didn't feel threatening, to Terra it felt knowing and penetrating, like he already knew all the answers and asking them was a mere formality. Subtly, she entwined her fingers with Celes' own. She was relieved when the other woman squeezed her hand and didn't pull away.

"So, Terra is your name?"

The girl nodded timidly.

"How very interesting," the old esper said. He turned his attention to Celes, "I've spent weeks trying to get through to her... yet it took you only a moment."

Celes shrugged and her face flushed ever so slightly. She didn't know what the esper was insinuating.

"Hmm... very interesting indeed," he said, turning back to Terra. "I wonder why that is?"

Terra looked up at him with wide, questioning eyes.

"I suppose it would be proper for me to introduce myself," he held out a hand for Terra to shake, "Greetings. I am Ramuh. The esper, Ramuh."

Blue sparks literally flew from the two hands when they touched. "Wow," Terra murmured.

That kind smile never left the old man's face. "Wow, indeed. You are a most unique individual, Terra."

Terra blanched, though she understood his words to be a strange sort of complement and not an insult.

Celes finally spoke up, "Valigarmanda believes Terra is half-human, half-esper. Is that true?"

"Valigarmanda?" the esper repeated, "He still lives?"

"Yes," she said, nodding at Artemis though the woman was still looking at her feet. "Though he is trapped in a magical block of ice at the moment."

"Hmm... I believe Terra's magic can help you with that. But to answer your question, I'm not certain. He very well could be right." Ramuh turned his attention back to Terra, "You are not fully an esper, that much I'm sure of."

She hung her head, her hands resting limply in her lap. Should she be relieved? Or did it just mean she was all the more alone? Would the Empire want a human-esper hybrid even more than they coveted the espers themselves?

Gently, Celes rubbed the woman's bare shoulder, hoping Terra found the contact comforting. "It wasn't until she met Valigarmanda that Terra transformed. The first time, she touched my runic blade and it changed her back."

"So, you were human _until_ you met an esper?" At the girl's slight nod, Ramuh nodded back.

"I've always had my magic though..." Terra quietly added.

Ramuh's bushy eyebrows raised ever so slightly. "Fascinating," he said as he stroked his beard. After pondering this for a moment, he turned his attention to Celes, "And what is this runic blade you spoke of?"

Celes grasped the golden hilt of her sword. "It's a weapon designed to absorb magic."

"May I?" he asked, gesturing to the blade at her side.

Normally, Celes would never have handed her sword over to anyone, even an enemy, but if this man was supposedly so damn wise -

She held it out to him, blade pointing to the floor. To her surprise, the sword floated out of her hand and Ramuh scooped it up in his. Normally, anyone with the gift of magic was in for a great shock when they so much as grazed the hilt of a runic blade, but the esper examined the blade closely, slowly turning it in his hand with no reaction whatsoever. Apparently satisfied, he handed it back.

"It didn't shock you," Celes marveled. She shook her head in disbelief as she resheathed the weapon.

The edges of Ramuh's lips quivered upwards slightly. "Oh, it was very painful. I assure you."

The woman snorted. Did all espers have such a strange sense of humor, or was it just the ones she ran into?

"I wouldn't use your weapon to discharge the magical energy Terra holds. You were lucky it didn't kill the both of you."

_'Oh,' _Celes thought, frowning. _'So much for that idea...' _

In the gathering silence, Terra's hand slowly and subtly found Celes' again. The woman glanced over at her, smiled, and squeezed. They'd figure this out, somehow...

Locke finally spoke up, "I don't understand. I thought espers lived in another world?"

"Most of us do," Ramuh answered with a nod, "but there is nothing stopping us from living here. As you know, espers come in a variety of forms. My appearance is similar to your own, which allows me to live here as you do, provided I keep myself hidden from the mage hunters."

"Is it true that espers and humans once lived side by side?"

Again Ramuh nodded. "Humans and espers used to live together in relative harmony, but that was before the War of the Magi."

Celes looked up from the slender pink hand she had been holding onto and unknowingly staring at. "The War of the Magi? I thought that was a myth."

Ramuh's smile vanished. "Alas, it was no fairy tale. A thousand years ago, espers fought humans who had been infused with magical powers extracted from other espers. The conflict rearranged the surface of the world."

Celes felt ill. It all sounded so very familiar. Was the Empire doomed to repeat history?

Ramuh nodded sadly, as though reading her mind. "Humans have a difficult time learning from their mistakes. I suppose it's one of the drawbacks of living for such a short time. They would be advised to learn, however. The War of the Magi left the world forever changed; I should know. I saw it happen." He turned his attention to the entire group, most of whom looked at him with shock on their faces, "After the war ended, we decided to fashion a new realm where humans would never find us. Unfortunately, one day about twenty years ago, long after I returned to living amongst the humans, the Empire stumbled upon the entrance to the esper realm. Gesthal, the leader of those men, knew that he could use the powers extracted from us to create an invincible army. The espers were able to throw them out, but not after many were taken. The few who escaped came to me. As I understand it, the realm is now protected by an impenetrable gate. No one may enter."

"Not even yourself?" Sabin asked.

"I wouldn't dare try," was Ramuh's reply. "The Empire watches over the caves that lead to the entrance. If I opened the gate, I might give the Empire exactly what it wants."

He continued, "But, as I was saying, those who were captured are now in the Empire's Magitek Research Facility, being drained of their powers. Years ago, I tried to rescue them but only narrowly escaped the same fate." He turned to face Artemis, "I know I saw you in one of those tanks..."

Artemis shook her head, keeping her eyes on the stone floor the entire time. "I only know that my powers were taken from me and infused into that woman over there. And _she_ knows even less that I do."

Celes coughed in irritation.

"And what _do_ you know?" Ramuh asked, his tone, as always, was the complete opposite of Artemis'. _'Why couldn't he be the esper stuck in my head?' _she asked herself.

Celes did the best she could to explain the unexplainable: she recalled her first encounter with Terra in her esper form, the incident on the train, Artemis appearing to her when they encountered the frozen esper, the strange dreams that came from Artemis' memories. It was hard to believe it all had happened in only the last two months.

"As for the day I was infused with magic," she continued, "I don't remember it. I was just a little girl."

Ramuh appeared to give this a great deal of thought, and there was quite a long silence before he finally spoke again. "Many of my fellow espers remain trapped in the Emperor's Magitek Research Facility. Perhaps one of them might have some answers for you both?"

"The Magitek Research Facility," Celes repeated. "Artemis asked me to take her there." At the mention of her name, the half-dragon esper, still leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, leveled a glare at her that would've melted stone.

"We lost many friends and loved ones the day the Empire broke into our world," Ramuh said. "Artemis knows that as well as I."

Celes' eyes never left Artemis' own. "Who did you lose?"

The woman huffed and looked away.

Ramuh's smile grew wistful. "Artemis... it would be better if you showed them."

Slowly, reluctantly, Artemis raised a hand and snapped her fingers.

* * *

><p>Ages ago...<p>

...

It had been years since she had transformed into... well, whatever it was she should call herself now. Certainly, she was no longer human, but she was not quite dragon either. She was some combination of the two, though her thoughts, her memories, those were all human.

Her home village was gone; every last trace of it was gone. Not a stone or a wooden post remained, and there was no hint as to where her people might've went to. Perhaps the warring gods had destroyed them all? She had no idea. She hadn't seen them since that day either. It was hard to bring herself to care one way or another anymore. She was alone. She hardly ate, or drank, or slept, yet it seemed she could not die. Years passed but nothing changed.

Every time she saw her reflection in a pool of water it remained the same. She was used to it now; the glowing eyes, the horns, the blue skin...

Unbelievably, the changes didn't stop there. She soon learned that she had the power to create and manipulate ice at will; another 'gift' from the dragon she had been trying to slay. But that was nothing compared to the power of flight which she now possessed. For weeks after discovering it she simply enjoyed flying across the land, but that too eventually came to an end and soon she fell into a depression. These days she hardly moved, and spent most of her time in what was now her cave.

There was no one she could talk to... not as long as she looked like _this_. Her village elders taught her that magical creatures were meant to be feared and destroyed. It wasn't safe to attract attention to herself.

For that reason, she was almost thankful that in all the years she had lived in this partially collapsed hole in the ground, she had never had a visitor beyond the occasional bear or mountain lion. So one day, when she saw a purple flash of light, accompanied by a resounding boom that reminded her all too much of the demon and the goddess who had transformed her, she nearly died of fright. And when she heard footsteps that sounded remarkably human, well, she did the only thing she could think of: she cowered in a corner.

At the rear of the cave was a small descending crevice, just wide enough to fit herself in if she sat down. She just about managed to squeeze herself into it, tail and all, before the approaching footsteps reached the cave opening.

"It's okay," a light, feminine voice called out from the entrance.

For a second, Diana nearly crawled out of the narrow hole, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. _'It's a trick, it's a trick,'_ she repeated to herself. It was another demon ready to finish what the first one had started.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

Again, she desperately wanted to believe that, but still she didn't move. The footfalls drew closer. Diana prepared herself for the end. She would not fight back. Death was preferable to this shell of a life she was living.

Suddenly, a head popped around the corner and Diana found herself staring into warm brown eyes.

The woman's smile melted her heart. "Ooh," she exclaimed, her voice like silk. "You're the prettiest one yet. I'll have to thank Ramuh for sending _me_ to come find you."

Diana found her voice to be harsh from years of little use, or at least that was the best theory her addled mind was capable of coming up with, "W- who are you?" she rasped as the women knelt down so they were eye to eye.

She gently laid a hand on her knee. It made Diana want to purr despite herself. She had been years without physical contact, and certainly not from anyone as attractive as this goddess before her. Her skin wasn't pale like Diana's own human skin had been; no, this woman's skin was dark. It was _exotic_. As was the simple white robe that barely covered her.

"My name is Aurora. I'm an esper, just like you."

"An... es... " she couldn't even spit the words out.

Aurora continued to smile and rubbed her fingers gently along Diana's scaly lower leg. "An esper. The Warring Triad would turn creatures - including humans like yourself - into magical beings to fight their battles for them. You are one such creature, only your soul seems to have been fused with that of a dragon. That's not very unusual, actually."

Diana gulped and found her throat was painfully dry. "Who is this T - Triad?"

"The three gods and goddesses of magic. One is a dragon, another a demon, and the last is a goddess whose beauty is only surpassed by her capacity for evil."

Well, those last two certainly sounded familiar.

"The Triad haven't walked the earth in over a thousand years, but we still find espers from time to time, trapped by magic and forgotten about by their creators."

"A thousand -" Diana shook her head. _ 'But it only felt like a few winters at most.'_

"I'm sorry," Aurora said, still rubbing gently rubbing her leg. "Anyone you would've known from your past life is long gone now, I'm afraid."

Diana's expression teetered from sadness and anger. "So, you're saying I'm some kind of _weapon_, forged by a goddess and then discarded and forgotten about?"

Aurora smiled sadly. "Perhaps it was common among your people to consider the gods and goddesses to be wise, but they were actually capricious and prone to violence. Their war nearly destroyed the world." She smiled as she now ran that soft hand along Diana's cheek, "That they would leave you here and not use you in their conflict only proves my point about their lack of wisdom."

Diana blushed at the complement. Thinking became increasingly difficult as that hand traveled around her jaw and down her neck.

This creature was not like the goddess who had transformed her. This creature, this woman, was truly beautiful. There was no malice in the way she looked upon her. Aurora's dark eyes radiated kindness and comfort. Gently, she took Diana by the hand and pulled her up and out of the crevice until they were standing in the cave, face to face.

In the light, she could see now that the white robe Aurora wore was very,very thin. The sight of it, and what lay behind it made the esper blush. Any lady from her village wouldn't dream of wearing something like that in public, but then, Diana hadn't worn a stitch of clothing since she transformed. For some reason, she hadn't given her nakedness a single thought.

When she realized what she was staring at, and how long she had been doing it, Diana quickly looked away.

Aurora chuckled. Even her laugh was light and beautiful, like chimes in the wind. "It's all right. You'll find we espers aren't as repressed as most humans. You can look if you like."

Diana blinked, then shivered as she contemplated those words.

"Will you come with me? I can introduce you to others of our kind."

"Others? H – How many are there?"

"Thousands."

"Thousands," she repeated. _ 'Thousands...'_

"Mmhmm," Aurora murmured as she appeared to be inspecting Diana from top to bottom with her eyes. Diana gulped. As a human, she had always been proud of the shape she had kept herself in. Thankfully, being the magical creature she apparently was now, she still had her figure despite years (or was it centuries?) of inactivity. She had an undeniable desire to impress this magical woman she had only just met.

"Although," Aurora said, grinning, "now I think I might not want to share you with them."

* * *

><p>For a long while, no one said a word, they only stared at Artemis, whose experience they had relived as if it were their own. The esper, for her part, kept her eyes on her toes. It looked as though she would be blushing in embarrassment if she were capable of it.<p>

"I wasn't the only one who saw that, right?" Locke said aloud.

Everyone stayed quiet.

"Now you know how I feel," Celes muttered.

"Thank you, Artemis," Terra said into the silence. "If she's there, I promise we'll find her for you." Quickly glancing up at her, the esper seemed not to know what to make of the comment. For a second, she looked as though she might say something, but soon she shook her head and returned her gaze to the floor.

Celes wasn't sure, but she thought she saw tears running down the dragon-woman's cheeks. Artemis had been in _love_ with that esper...

"I'm not sure if there is a way to separate you two," Ramuh said to Celes. "Perhaps the humans at the Magitek factory might know something. Or, if you find Aurora, she might be able to help; she and Artemis did know each other very... intimately."

'_That was the understatement of the century,' _Celes thought. Those two women had known each other for over a thousand years. _'Imagine the kind of bond they would've forged in all that time...'_

"However, what I do know is that Gestahl's methods are mistaken. You cannot drain an esper's powers by force. That only weakens them. Only when we've become magicite can our powers be transferred in full."

Artemis' eyes shot up. "You trust them enough to tell them that?"

He held up a hand. "Artemis. You must learn that not all humans are the same."

The half-dragon huffed. Clearly it was not a lesson she was going to learn tonight.

Ramuh raised an arm and with a flash of light four stones, the likes of which Celes had never seen before, appeared on the bed next to Terra. "These are my companions who fell as we fled the Empire."

Terra lifted one of the strange stones with both hands. In the center of a green, transparent crystal lay a solid, opaque red rock. She could actually _feel_ the soul of the creature inside it; a horse, or maybe a deer, but with a long green mane of hair. When she closed her eyes she could see the ghost of it before her. It tilted its head at her and backed away.

"It's okay," she said, rubbing the stone in her hand, "My name is Terra. What's yours?" The response was slow in coming but eventually a name appeared in her mind. "Kirin?" The horse-like creature snorted. Was that a yes or a no?

"We're here to help you," she said softly, in exactly the same tones she might use to calm a frightened animal, though this creature was no mere beast. "Will you help us find your friends?"

She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw the creature nod its equine head in assent.

Celes' quiet voice interrupted her thoughts. "Terra?"

Smiling, the half-esper pressed the magicite into her friend's hands. "Can you feel him?"

Celes shut her eyes and gasped at what she saw.

"She's my friend," Terra said softly, her hands still on the stone, "You can trust her."

The horse-like creature seemed to acknowledge Terra's words, but for her own part, Celes was speechless. There was an _esper_ living in this stone. It looked just like a ghost, just like Artemis did as she stood before them all now.

"Alas, they are little more than spirits now," Ramuh said, "but they understand what you are trying to do. They want to see their friends freed and the Empire destroyed. They will grant you their power to make it so."

"We'll do it," Terra said, her formerly meek voice growing in confidence. "Right, Celes?"

Celes only nodded rather dumbly. There was so much to take in.

Terra looked questioningly back at Locke, Sabin and Cyan.

"You know I'll help in any way I can, Terra," Locke said.

Sabin slapped the treasure-hunter on the shoulder. "And don't count me out. I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Cyan didn't smile, he probably seldom ever did, but his eyes showed that he was not unaffected by all he had seen and heard tonight, "I will gladly lend any assistance I can if it will end this war."

Terra smiled back at them all. "Thank you," she said softly.

Ramuh spoke up, "I was unable to rescue my friends, but perhaps if I too grant you my powers you will succeed where I failed."

"What? No!" Artemis cried out, "You can't do that!"

The elder esper looked upon her with genuine regret. "I'm sorry, but this is the only way. Terra and her friends must not fail." He turned his attention back to the humans in the room. "Keep the stones with you. Over time you will learn all the magic we knew..."

Ramuh stepped back and lifted his staff. With powerful legs, the ghostly esper leapt at him, but with a resounding boom, like a lightning strike, Ramuh disappeared in a bright flash of light the instant he tapped his staff against the ground. When everyone could see again, all that was left of him was a piece of magicite.

Artemis knelt over it and wept, repeating something over and over in her esper tongue as she slowly disappeared, Ramuh's magic vanishing. Celes staggered back as her own magic returned to her. She bit back any urge to try to comfort the creature. She knew it would not be appreciated.

Cautiously, Terra slid off the bed, adjusted her cape and picked the magic rock off the ground. Gently, she rubbed the surface as she held it up. Just like with Kirin she could feel that a part of Ramuh was still in there and she could see a ghostly image of him smiling encouragingly at her. She smiled back.

* * *

><p>Outside...<p>

...

The storm outside had finally abated. The rain left the city smelling refreshingly clean for the moment.

When they all congregated outside Ramuh's former room, everyone seemed to be deep in thought. Ramuh had certainly given them all a lot to think about.

"So..." Sabin drawled.

"We have no choice," Celes said. "We must get inside that factory."

Terra nodded, "And I'm going with you."

"Me too," Locke added. "I've always wanted to see what the Empire is really like."

Cyan scoffed. "Need I remind all of you that this factory is in the _heart_ of the Imperial capital, and that they will surely recognize the two of you," he said, gesturing to indicate the two women.

Celes thought about this, she could probably disguise herself fairly easily, but how would they get _Terra_ into Vector in her current half-esper state?

"More importantly," Locke added, "how are we going to cross the ocean? Ships don't travel to the Southern Continent anymore."

"I could fly there," Terra offered.

Celes scratched the back of her head. She had completely forgotten that possibility. As if to demonstrate, Terra's taloned feet left the concrete floor and she hovered a few inches above the ground. The sight brought a tiny smile to the blonde woman's face. "Um..." Celes sensed that her power of speech was leaving her behind again.

"I don't think you could carry all four of us," Sabin said with a little grin of his own.

Terra looked deflated. "Oh... right." Her feet returned to the ground and her posture slumped.

Celes gently patted the woman's shoulder and tried to sound encouraging, "Don't worry about it. Perhaps we could find someone who could fly all of us there?"

Sabin rested his back against the concrete wall, "You mean someone with an airship?"

She nodded.

"Well, Jidoor should be our first stop then," Locke suggested. "They're the only people I know of with that kind of money."

"Figaro has no airships?" Celes asked.

"They did when I was young," Sabain said, "but today?" He shrugged, "I honestly don't know. Unfortunately, it would take weeks to return to the castle to find out."

"And they might need those ships more than we do right now," Locke added.

Celes let out a tired breath. "All right. Then we should head to Jidoor and decide from there, agreed?"

Following their nods and murmurs of assent, Cyan, Sabin, and Locke started down the stairs, but before Celes could follow, Terra grabbed her arm. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Wordlessly, Celes assented and found herself being gently tugged back to the metal railing as the sounds of the departing men faded from hearing. Zozo was quiet. It must've been well after midnight. Before she knew it, she was wrapped up in a tight hug. All the hard weeks of traveling finally caught up to her at that moment. She breathed deeply and allowed this amazingly strong woman to hold her as long as she wanted. She fought back a laugh when she remembered that she had vowed to comfort and protect Terra. Now who was comforting who? This woman really was stronger than her in every conceivable way.

"We'll, um, need to be careful once we reach the Empire," Celes finally said. "They can't learn of what Ramuh told us, especially about magicite, or about you."

Terra nodded into Celes' shoulder.

The woman smiled and gently patted Terra's back. Again Celes felt Terra's warm breath on her skin, but it was in no way awkward as it had been before. She felt only warm and comforted.

Eventually, Terra's voice broke her from her thoughts, "Is she okay?"

"Huh?" Celes realized she was in danger of falling asleep in Terra's arms. "Is who okay?"

"Artemis," she clarified, staring into Celes' eyes curiously.

_'Oh...' _ Backing away, Celes leaned against the rail and looked out over the skyline._ 'Artemis... do you want to talk about it?'_

There was a long silence before the esper finally replied, _'Just... leave me alone.'_

Celes smiled sadly. There was no way for the knight to do as she'd been asked. Not when Artemis could read her thoughts and see everything she saw. "She doesn't want to talk."

"Oh," Terra said simply. "You told me she can read your mind, right?"

Celes glanced at her through the corner of her eye and nodded.

"So, that must mean she can see, hear and feel everything you do, right?"

Another nod.

Gently, Terra placed Celes' left hand in between her own. There was such a feeling of genuine concern in the woman's eyes now that it almost hurt to look at her. "Artemis? I promise you, If she's alive, we'll find her."

Celes gulped. When Terra finally let go, she had to look away. How could this woman think herself incapable of love?

'_If I were you, I wouldn't let that one get away.'_

The ex-general blanched. _'I have no idea what you're going on about,'_ she thought, eyes narrowing.

Artemis laughed.

Terra watched this unspoken conversation play out with increasingly bemused interest. First Celes' eyes narrowed, then a few moments later her lips parted and she let out a surprised gasp and gripped the rail with what seemed like anger.

She wondered what Celes and Artemis were discussing. It was easy to pick up on the fact that the esper didn't like her blond friend, but though she understood why Artemis would feel grief over all she had lost, it was still surprising to see how very human she really was. The esper was quite clearly very capable of feeling a complete range of emotions: hate, grief, _love_. If it was possible for an esper like Artemis to love, then maybe Terra could too.

Perhaps espers and humans weren't so different after all.

If only she could've had more time to speak to Ramuh...

She hoped at least that the Empire's Magitek Facility would provide the answers she sought. The temptation was there to take Celes and fly to Vector at once...

For a moment, she wished Artemis was in _her_ head so they could talk for a while, but as she watched Celes' knuckles grow whiter as she clenched the metal rail, Terra thought better of it. Celes seemed to really be struggling to keep her anger in check.

"She... um... _appreciates_ your concern," the woman grumbled.

"Sorry about that," Terra said with an embarrassed little smile, "It's probably a bit weird to have someone talking at you, but not to you." Terra's brow scrunched up. "Did that make sense?"

Celes chuckled. "I'm not sure."

"And what about you?" Terra continued.

"Huh?"

"Are _you_ okay?"

"Me? Uh, sure. Why wouldn't I be?" Celes felt her cheeks heating up again. She couldn't understand why it was only Terra who seemed to have this kind of effect on her.

Terra kept quiet for a moment more. She knew she had said it before, but she couldn't keep from repeating herself, "Thank you for finding me."

That nagging blush just wouldn't go away. "Well, um... Locke wanted to come too," the warrior mumbled.

Terra only smiled. She then looked down, noting that she was again wearing nothing but a cape. "I can't believe I lost all my clothes again..."

"As long as you're like this, you'll need something to keep you hidden from Imperial eyes. But when we're back in Narshe we could find something more appropriate. Maybe even go shopping?" Celes suggested.

The girl smiled more broadly, "I can't imagine you going out shopping."

Celes smirked. "I hate it. If I needed new clothes, or a new suit of armor, the fitters would come to me." She shrugged. "But I don't mind," bravely, she ran a hand along one of Terra's long, elf-like ears. "We can even get your ears pierced if you want," she joked.

Terra shivered at the contact. Her voice came out as a whisper, "They are pierced... when I'm human, at least."

Celes blinked. How had she not noticed that before? "The Empire let you do that?"

The girl nodded.

"And your clothes?"

Another nod.

"You picked them out yourself?"

"Yes. Sometimes the guards would take me to stores and I could have whatever I wanted..."

"Hmm." That came as a surprise. It was a small relief to know that Terra's life under Kefka hadn't been entirely horrible.

"Come on," Terra said eventually, holding out her arms toward her friend.

"Wha -?"

Without a word, Terra wrapped her arms tightly around Celes' waist and lifted them both into the air with ease.

Celes was half amused, and half terrified. She probably would've injured the girl by squeezing so hard had Terra's thin body not been so unnaturally strong. "Terra!" she cried out, laughing. "Put me down!"

Flying smoothly over the guardrail, Terra smiled as they very slowly descended to the street below. "This way is faster."

* * *

><p>The city of Jidoor...<p>

...

Jidoor just might've been the cleanest city in the world, Celes realized. It was a city of large houses, wide streets and exceedingly well-dressed people. Even the waste bins were expensive looking, as well as completely spotless.

There was a feeling that all this was built upon the work of people little seen: indentured servants who were little more well-off than slaves. The only difference between these servants and the servants in any other city was that the Jidoorans took pains to dress theirs in the finest clothing. Differences in manner between the servants and their bosses was many times the only way to tell them apart. The servants here always kept their eyes on the ground.

"So, all we need to do is pretend like we're loaded," Locke explained as his eyes darted from store to store. There were no street vendors here like in Zozo. Every street, sidewalk and storefront was immaculately clean, like the whole city was awaiting a visit from the Emperor himself.

The sight of the five of them walking down the busy streets in their armor went more or less unnoticed by the locals. What didn't go unnoticed was Terra, now wearing a white robe and a hood which covered much of her pink face; it seemed a reasonable precaution to take. The sight of Terra in her esper form would've attracted even more attention...

"Ah-ha!" Locke gestured towards a clothing shop. The front windows were lined with dresses; two of which were made of a new type of magical fabric that subtly changed hues on a whim. The price? Practically enough sovereigns to buy their own airship with.

Locke then turned his attention to a store on the other side of the street. This one had amply endowed mannequins showing off the latest Jidooran fashions. The look on his face was enough to make Celes grab him by the arm and pull him to a stop. "I am _not_ wearing a dress."

He sighed in defeat. "Let's at least go to the armor-smith and get you polished up, you too Cyan."

The knight nodded his assent, and eventually Celes agreed. By the time that was done it was late afternoon. Adamant that they waste no more time, Celes directed them towards the home of the richest man in town: Owzer.

...

No one was quite sure what to expect when they arrived at the man's lavish estate on top of the highest hill in Jidoor, but the front door being left wide open was not it. Tables of food were laid out, people were milling about all over the place and there was a small orchestra of sorts set up somewhere out of view. Owzer was apparently throwing quite the party.

They passed through the well-appointed home, its walls lined with paintings, and filled with people milling about and socializing with one another. The gentle murmur of quiet conversation died down when Cyan entered, still dressed like the knight he was, but it ended completely when Celes came through the door.

There came hushed murmurs of "Maria." She looked left and right but everyone was apparently looking at her.

Locke glanced at her, "Know any Marias?"

Celes shrugged.

There came a cough loud enough to attract her attention. It was Cyan and he was pointing up at an enormous portrait of a woman in a white dress; a woman who looked quite a bit like Celes.

The likeness was amazing. The blue eyes, the blonde hair... but that dress she was wearing was _very_ low cut...

"Whoa," Locke said with a growing blush. "When did you pose for _that_?"

Celes shook her head in disbelief; surely it was obvious that this woman wasn't her. "I _didn't_. That's not me."

"Oh..."

"Come on," she grumbled. Stirring herself, she marched right past the gawking guests. A butler directed them out the patio door to a veranda that overlooked an enormous patio and pool. It also commanded what must've been the best view in all of Jidoor. The ocean could be seen fifteen miles away.

As they passed, Terra overheard a lot of hushed comments that made little sense to her. It seemed the consensus among the guests was that Maria (Celes) was in costume and preparing to play the role of someone named Brunnhilde in some kind of opera or play or something. Perhaps Brunnhilde was a warrior? She'd ask Celes about that later.

Judging by how the guests backed away and spoke very, very quietly, it seemed that Maria had a reputation for being a bit scary and prone to anger. At least the two women had that much in common.

Once out on the veranda, Celes made a beeline for the most well-dressed man to be seen, but before she got to him, she was nearly run over by balding man in a black suit. Apologizing profusely, his mouth dropped open when he saw who he had just ran into. "Maria?" At the sight of the woman dressed like a warrior and with an abnormally chilly expression on her face, he corrected himself. "Oh, my apologies, I mistook you for someone else. Wow! You could pass for Maria in a heartbeat! Oh dear!" he cried out as he left, "We're really in trouble this time!"

_'What the bloody hell was that all about?'_ Celes wondered as the man pushed his way past her friends. Her eyes flashed dangerously at a group of gawking party-goers. Quickly, they returned to their drinks. _'If all these people don't stop staring at me...'_

"Oh, look, that man must've dropped this," Locke said. Unfolding what appeared to be a letter; he cleared his throat and wasted no time in reading it aloud:

"Dearest Maria,

I've decided to take you as my wife, so I'll be coming to kidnap you.

- The Wandering Gambler."

He scratched the back of his head. "Who is this Wandering so-and-so?"

"You born on a farm, son?" Locke and Celes looked up from the letter to see a somewhat overweight but well-dressed man. His short hair was immaculately combed, and the fine silks he wore would've made Edgar envious. She knew without even asking that this was Owzer.

"That 'so-and-so' you speak of is Setzer Gabbiani, the only private owner of an airship in the entire world. I heard he won it in a game of chance, though others say he built it himself."

"Then who was that man who just left?" the thief asked.

"Oh, everyone just calls him the Impresario, he runs the grand opera house down by the waterfront. He's been in a tizzy ever since that letter arrived." He leaned forward slightly, staring hard at Celes, inspecting her as if she were a marble statue, "He was right though, you are the spitting image of Maria."

"Thanks," Celes grumbled, backing away but struggling to remain polite.

The rich man huffed, "Who_ are _you people, anyway?"

"Oh, that's not important," Celes said as she steered Locke and Terra away from him. She whispered in the hopes that all the nosy party-goers wouldn't hear, "If we had that airship, we'd have our way into the Empire."

Locke nodded. "Let's set up a meeting with this Setzer."

There came a mumbled chorus of assent.

...

"So," Locke began once they were back outside, "all we need to do is wait for this gambler fellow to show up and kidnap Maria, then we follow him to his airship and convince him to take us to Vector."

Celes tilted her head. "And how exactly are we going to convince him to do that?"

Locke shrugged and looked deep in thought for a moment before an idea came to him, "We'll just tell him that if he doesn't, my friend Sabin here will rearrange his face," he suggested, patting the huge man on the shoulder.

Sabin crossed his arms. "I am _not_ punching some guy for no good reason."

"But -"

"I know!" interrupted Terra. "When he shows up, I could follow him up to his airship and try talking him."

Celes smiled. "That's an excellent idea. We don't know how Setzer is going to kidnap Maria but, presuming he uses his airship to do it, Terra is the only one of us who could track him down."

This seemed to please everyone and Terra nodded in agreement but kept her mouth shut. She was glad to finally be of use, but she had no idea how she was going to convince this stranger of anything. Hopefully, he was reasonable man. Were gamblers reasonable? She didn't know what a gambler did for a living exactly…

Locke nodded. "Excellent. Then it's decided."

* * *

><p>Next Chapter: Upon reaching the opera house, Locke slightly alters his brilliant plan.<p>

* * *

><p>AN – When writing a scene based off of something that happens in an RPG, it's always a bit tricky to answer the question, "so, how did they get inside that person's house?"<p>

And any of you who have played the game probably know how Locke's plan is going to change :D

Also, I'm sorry about any typos or misplaced words. I keep finding new ones every time I reread this, but I wanted to have this chapter out before I left for vacation. I'll be out of the country for two weeks, starting today, the 7th of July. The last time I took a vacation I began writing for the first time in years and it eventually led to me writing my own fanfiction, so it's entirely possible that I'll start writing chapter 10 while I'm away. Of course, there's also the possibility that I'll be so enamored with the beauty (and rain) of Scotland that I won't have the time to write anything at all. What I guess I'm trying to say is that the next update might take longer than usual, or it might not.


	10. The Mastersingers of Jidoor

AN - Sorry for the delay. Hopefully this chapter doesn't stink? (._.)

* * *

><p>"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr<p>

Chapter 10: "The Mastersingers of Jidoor"

...

"What's all this damned yelling?"

- Sixtus Beckmesser, from Wagner's _'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'_

...

Jidoor. The grand hall of the Royal Opera House.

...

"Ah! It's you again..." he said, sighing at the sight of the same people he had literally run into back at Owzer's house. To Terra the impresario seemed even more agitated than he had been at the party. And if the tracks in the plush red carpet here were any indication, he had been pacing for a very, very long time.

Making sure her hood was covering her head properly, she kept back from the group, desiring not to attract attention to herself.

"We read the letter you dropped," Locke said to him. "So, Setzer is coming to snatch Maria away?"

The man nodded sadly. "He'll probably appear right at the climax of the first act. He loves to make an entrance..."

"He's done this before?" Celes asked.

"Oh, no, not exactly. He did once abduct the princess of Levante during her wedding, but to be honest I think she paid him to do it. Her future husband - the Duke of Autan - was four times her age, you understand."

"Fascinating," Celes grumbled, her arms crossed in irritation.

"All right, then," Locke said, slapping his hands together to get everyone's attention. "When he shows up, we'll jump out and nab him!"

"Dear me, _no_!" The poor man looked like he was going to have a heart-attack just considering the possibility. "You'll ruin the performance! I'll lose everything!"

Celes nodded, "But if you do nothing..."

He hung his head at the unfinished statement. Setzer was going to steal his star singer no matter what he did. "Oh, this is simply horrible... I want the performance to be a success, but I can't allow Maria to be abducted."

"That's why we'll let him grab her," Locke continued.

"W- What?! It's bad enough if the opening night is ruined, but don't you understand what will happen if he takes Maria? No singer would ever work for me again!"

Locked sighed. "We'll use a decoy. Once he's got her, we'll follow him right back to his airship. And if all goes well, we should be able commandeer it!"

"Are you mad!? If anything should happen to Maria -"

"That's why the decoy! You can hide Maria someplace safe!"

Some of the color finally returned to the maestro's face. "Come again?"

"You said Celes looks like Maria, right?"

Celes held out a hand, "Now wait just a minute -" but there was no stopping Locke.

"She can be our Maria! We'll let Setzer kidnap her and lead us to his airship!"

The maestro's eyes lit up. "Brilliant!"

Celes vehemently disagreed. "You want me to do _what_?!"

Terra gulped. There was Celes' dark anger again. It flushed her cheeks, made her muscles tense and her blue eyes grow dark. Everyone in the room felt a rushed of chilled air, like stepping out of a warm home and into a Narshean winter. Ice magic. Even Terra shivered at the feeling.

"I'm a general, not some opera floozy!"

Terra didn't know what a floozy was exactly, but she assumed it was bad.

Locke held up his hands, giving a palms-out gesture like he was trying to convince a lion not to devour him. "We know you aren't, Celes. But this is the only way we can lure Setzer here. Otherwise, we could waste weeks, if not months, trying to find him."

The impresario's jubilant expression faded. "But wait, wait!" he cried, gesturing madly to grab Locke's attention. "Can she sing?"

"_Can she sing_?!" the thief repeated. He leaned over to Celes and whispered nervously into her ear, "You can sing, right?"

Celes clenched her fists. She wanted to slug him, but this _was_ probably the only way to get Setzer here without risking the impresario's precious diva or wasting any more of their time. She resolved to slug him later.

"Fine," she muttered, even as she shook her head 'no'. "I'll do it." The impresario's expression remained doubtful. "And yes..." she continued, "I _can_ sing."

"Mezzo?"

Celes nodded.

"Wonderful!" the impresario exclaimed, his expression turning jubilant once again. He beckoned her to follow. "Come now. I'll introduce you to everyone. Oh! And we'll need to find someone to get you fitted for your dress," he continued as he led the woman to the backstage doors. "I do hope you're Maria's size. It would save us ever so much money..."

Celes' lips pursed at the word 'dress'. As they departed, Terra was grateful that the woman hadn't been looking at her because she couldn't quite keep back a smile. What would Celes look like in a fancy dress, she wondered.

"Better get to work!" Locke called out. "They're gonna make a star out of you, Celes!"

As the backstage doors were closing behind them, Celes stopped, turned completely around and made some kind of hand gesture, holding up two fingers with her knuckles out. Judging by Locke's bemused expression, Terra assumed the gesture was meant to be insulting.

When the doors slammed shut the cavernous hall went very quiet.

With Celes gone, and with the opera's grand opening five days away, the remaining members of their little Returner army huddled together to decide on their next course of action. Eventually everyone agreed that Sabin and Cyan would secure their lodgings for the coming week, while Locke tried to get any information they could on Imperial activities in the city. And Terra... well, it was decided that she would be better off staying out of the way. She simply stuck out too much as she currently was.

Her shoulders slumped as she watched Locke leave out the front door. She didn't like it, but what could she possibly do in the city while she looked like _this_... other than attract a crowd of gawkers and the attention of any Imperial spies? Frustrated, she yanked her hood back, letting her hair free as she let out a deep breath. Just because she agreed to this didn't mean she wasn't irritated. She was tired of hiding who she was.

Hearing her sigh, Sabin gently patted her back with one of his enormous hands. "Don't worry about it, Terra. Think of it as a five day vacation. We'll get you a nice secluded room where you can relax and -"

Just then another man in a fancy suit burst through the front doors. "Maestro! Maestro!" he cried. As the hall was otherwise empty, he looked straight to them for help. Sabin only shrugged and pointed in the direction the impresario had headed.

The stranger nodded, but just as he seemed about to dash off after him, he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Terra.

"And _who_ is this?" he drawled, quickly reaching out and grabbing Terra's hand.

Terra squeaked in surprise, unable to extricate herself from the man's grip. He was looking her up and down in apparent amazement; even mostly covered up as she was, her pink skin and wild, matching colored hair were hard to miss.

"Who did your makeup?" He ran a finger up and down Terra's open palm, evidently surprised that nothing rubbed off. She blushed horribly.

Cyan stepped forward. "Sir," he stated firmly, "I demand you unhand that wo -"

The stranger paid him no notice, "This is wonderful!" His eyes darted around the hall, "_Maestro_!" he cried out again. Sabin and Cyan each took a nervous step back. Clearly this man's enthusiasm was too much for either of them.

"Coming! Coming!" came a shout from backstage. The impresario reappeared at the doors, looking just as frazzled as he had a minute ago.

Meanwhile, whoever this stranger was, he seemed to be growing more excited by the second. Terra looked down at their interlocked hands. She really didn't want to have to set him on fire just to get him to let go, but she was strongly considering it.

Thankfully, he let go on his own when he stepped back and then tapped his goateed chin in thought. "Wouldn't this look be wonderful for the grove scene, don't you think?" he asked the maestro, leaning back and appraising Terra's body and white robe like she was a porcelain vase. "We simply _must_ have you."

"Oh," the impresario exclaimed, apparently only just now noticing the half-esper's presence after all this time, "You must be one of the fairies for the grove scene! And with make-up on already! Wonderful!" Awestruck, he closely inspected Terra's 'costume' as the stranger kept nodding in agreement all the while. "Signore Bartoli has _really_ outdone himself this time! Our old costumes were simply horrid, but just look at this!" he continued, lifting Terra's arm and noting the pink tufts of hair growing from it. "I knew he would come up with something wonderful!"

Fairy? Grove scene? What was this guy talking about? Terra's mouth opened but no words came out.

"Come, come!" said the stranger, pulling her along towards the backstage door with the impresario at her side. "Round up the stagehands! With two dozen fairies we're going to need a lot of pink hair dye. Oh, and body paint and –"

Just before the door slammed behind her, Terra looked back over her shoulder at Sabin and Cyan for help, but they could only stare back at her with completely dumbstruck expressions on their faces.

…

Later that night...

...

Celes blinked as the music came to an end. Now the only sound in the small room came from the gentle scratching and popping sounds of the needle reaching the end of the record.

The task before her was so much more complicated than simple memorization of her lines. There were cues from the orchestra and from the other singers to remember, not to mention all the stage directions she would need to follow... If only it had been an opera she was familiar with; she'd still be out of her depth, of course, but any little bit would help. As it stood, she had only her numerous future practice sessions and this recording of _'Maria and Draco_' to guide her.

Only five days to get to the point where she could be a halfway decent stand-in for Maria. At the moment, she'd settle for not getting booed off the stage the instant she opened her mouth.

She was going to kill Locke.

With a sigh, she pushed herself off the floor, leaned over to the record player on the bedside table and gently flipped the disk over. That simple act brought back a memory of Lightning walking into her office and doing this very same thing a hundred times without a word passing between either of them.

She sat back on the floor and leaned against the bed. She hadn't thought about Lightning in weeks. Hopefully the woman wouldn't have been interrogated by the Secret Service when they found out about Celes' defection. Probably not, she thought. They hadn't spoken in years and could hardly have been considered close anymore. Cid on the other hand... no, he was much too useful to them.

And _then_, she thought as she lay there on the floor, arms clasped together over her abdomen, her former home had probably been turned inside out by Imperial agents once news of her defection had reached Vector. All of her records were probably long gone by now. She sighed again. As a soldier she knew better than to get attached to material things...

Music finally began to come from the phonograph again; a stately, majestic number with short, dotted rhythms heralded the entrance of Ralse, the pompous King of the East, Draco's sworn enemy. In this scene he sees Maria, the king's bride and former queen of the West, for the very first time and - unsurprisingly - falls instantly in love with her beauty.

It brought a smile to Celes' face; not the predictability of that scene, but rather the irony of it all. Soon after being dragged backstage she had met both Giovanni, the man who would be singing the part of the enemy king, and Diego, the star tenor who would be singing the part of Draco, the opera's hero. Once out of their roles, Giovanni was friendly and approachable while Diego was cold and distant, a perfect reversal of their characters. Still, even the distant and moody Diego was a pleasure to be around compared to the world-famous diva she would be replacing.

To put it mildly, Maria wasn't at all pleased with the idea of someone else singing as her and 'soiling her reputation' as she so gracefully put it. About an hour into the first rehearsal she barged onto the stage and managed to drown out the orchestra with her screaming. The meeting that followed was a tense affair. Celes wasn't used to being regarded as though she were a bug to be stepped on, but she kept her cool throughout, reminding herself that all this would all be worth it when they were on their way to Vector.

Celes had gotten off easy though; she could handle the few crude comments Maria hurled at her. The poor impresario on the other hand eventually found himself trapped in the soprano's dressing room where he continued to be chewed out for a good half an hour.

So, _eventually, _Maria agreed to leave the city for her own safety, but only if she were paid her full salary, and only if after the performance it would be officially announced that Maria's role had been sung by an 'imposter'.

Before leaving, she also had her attendant maids take her collection of elaborate and expensive dresses… primarily out of spite, Celes assumed. Now it probably wouldn't be until the night before the opening that Celes would actually have a proper dress to perform in.

She groaned. She had forgotten about that damn dress.

_'Yes,'_ she reminded herself as she unconsciously clenched her fists,_ 'Locke Cole is a dead man.'_

At least Maria agreed to perform in all the remaining shows. And the impresario seemed willing to accept an interrupted opening night's performance as long as it meant Maria would continue to work for him. Then the press would proclaim him the hero for sacrificing his opening night to protect Jidoor's most beloved soprano.

It would probably lead to a sold out season.

Oh well, she didn't particularly care what happened so long as she got that airship.

She tapped her chest to the rhythm of the music as Ralse began his entrance aria, '_Behold! The West is silent_.'

Celes was thankful that she was at least already familiar with the story of Maria and Draco - if not the opera itself. It made the act of memorizing her lines a little easier. This was the scene where Ralse meets Maria for the first time.

She was also thankful she wouldn't have to kiss anyone. _That_ scene came at the end of the second and final act. All she needed to do in the first act before Setzer arrived was portray a dignified woman of regal bearing pining for her lost love. Aside from the singing, the most difficult part would be the dancing; first, with the 'ghost' of Draco and then with Ralse himself at the grand ball. During the duel that followed, she only had to look on in horror as Draco and Ralse fought for her hand.

_'Pfft,' _she thought. If she were truly in Maria's shoes she'd just knife Ralse herself. Actually - scratch that - if she were Maria, she would've been leading the army and the West never would've lost in the first place.

Still, despite its predictable romantic plot, Maria and Draco's love story was actually rather unique. Normally, the evil king who steals the hero's love would be portrayed in a completely negative fashion, but Ralse was different; he falls genuinely in love with Maria's spirit and grace. And the more she refuses him, the more he enamored he becomes.

Then there was the character of the Fairy Queen who falls in love with Draco after he retreats into the forest. So in all, that was quite the love triangle, or rectangle, or whatever...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Celes quickly reached over and turned down the music she had been playing perhaps a bit too loudly. It was nice of the impresario to lend her Maria's private apartment. She could listen to the recording over and over again long into the night without disturbing anyone. "Come in," she called out.

Her expression twitched in amusement when she saw a pink hand appear from behind the door. No longer wearing her white cloak, Terra was now dressed in a loose fitting, almost gauzy white dress that wrapped over her right shoulder and reached down to her ankles. Celes had overheard enough to know that this was the dress the fairies were to wear for the scene when the badly wounded Draco stumbles into the grove of the Fairy Queen.

The woman looked a little self-conscious, but she was still Terra through and through; effortlessly beautiful without even being aware of it, and the dress looked just as ethereal and magical as the woman who wore it. Terra was like something out a dream, and bloody hell, she really, really needed to stop thinking about her like that...

As the woman stepped in and gently shut the door behind her, Celes was thankful that at least she was no longer contemplating jumping the poor girl, like she had been months ago back in that old, twisted forest. Perhaps, she liked to think, she had better control over herself now. But the reality was that the girl simply wasn't as magically charged as she had been on that fateful day. The magic was still there, Celes could sense it, but it was no longer overpowering. Day by day the feeling lessened. She wondered if perhaps soon the woman's esper half might go back into hiding again once the residual magic faded enough.

No, her attraction to Terra had to be put down to the simple fact that the half-esper was the most captivating woman she had ever set eyes on.

"Celes?"

The blonde smiled and beckoned her closer with a wave of her hand.

Terra curiously admired the large room. The walls were covered with posters of Maria; most depicting her in a fancy dress alongside other women in fancy dresses and men in tuxedos. There were also framed cuttings of rave reviews given to her performances. If there was one thing Terra knew about Maria it was that she certainly had a high opinion of herself.

"So, I heard you got a part in the show," Celes began, a smile creeping onto her face. She still couldn't believe it.

Terra nodded.

"You volunteered?"

"Not exactly..." At Celes' confused expression, Terra did her best to explain what happened, even though she could make little sense out of it herself. She grew slightly perturbed when the sitting woman laughed at the end of her story.

"Is it a big part?" she continued.

Terra shook her head, "I'm fairy number seven. I just - um - _dance_. We sing too - all together, I mean - but the director said I could just fake my way through that if I wanted to."

Celes smiled. "And you don't mind doing it? I could tell them to back off if you wanted."

Another shake of her head. "No. I like the dancing parts. The director says I'm a natural at it."

_'I bet,'_ Celes thought. Terra practically danced with her swords when she had fought Kefka's forces back in Narshe. The strange beauty of it all was something she'd never be able to forget.

"What about you?

"Hmm?"

"Do you mind doing this?"

Celes made a face. "_Yes_. But if it gets us to Vector, it'll be worth it."

"You didn't seem so accepting of it earlier."

She shrugged and looked at her own bare feet. "I was overreacting..." When Celes got the nerve to look up, she had to laugh, she knew why Terra was smiling like that. "You really think I can do this?"

The half-esper knelt down and patted Celes on the knee. "I've heard you sing before. You have nothing to worry about."

Celes grunted and looked away. There were a _ton _of things to worry about. Singing for one person was nothing like singing and dancing on stage in front of thousands of people, with a dozen other actors, an orchestra, and everything planned intricately in advance. It was like coordinating a massive assault by land, sea and air, only hopefully with a few less casualties...

"Think of it as a chance to wear someone else's skin," Terra said, "It's your chance to be someone besides the general for once."

Celes' thoughts abruptly ended. She stared at the kneeling girl seriously for a long time before she crossed her arms and grunted. "How'd you get so damn wise anyway?"

Terra smiled again as she sat cross-legged on the plush carpeted floor. "What does Artemis have to say about all this?"

"Nothing," said Celes with a hint of a frown. "She hasn't spoken to me since Zozo."

Terra nodded sadly, she still thought of Ramuh a lot too. "I've never lost anyone I've cared about." That wasn't entirely true, but she had never really known her mother, or her father.

Celes' eyes seemed to bore into Terra's own. Her expression was much more serious, "And I'll do everything I can to make sure that you never do."

The half-esper's lips twitched at the gesture. Then she thought about how it would feel if she lost Celes... Her heart sank in her chest at the idea. Suddenly, she understood a little about how Artemis must be feeling now. Celes deserved a long life filled with happiness. And then Terra found herself wondering what such a life would entail for her friend. If the war ended tomorrow, what would Celes want to do? Perhaps, Terra thought, she'd find out if she got to know her a little better...

They remained there in that room, Celes sitting on the floor against the bed, Terra still close by. Each one was lost in their own world as the music of the opera quietly played on. Now, Maria was singing a sad song about her fate; yet another aria the blonde would have to learn in less than a week.

"Celes, can I ask you something?"

She nodded.

"What does the word 'mezzo' mean?"

It took a moment for Celes to remember when that word had ever come up. Then she recalled what the maestro had asked her just before he rushed her off to be fitted into that natty old dress, a substitute for the one she would wear on opening night. "Oh. It's just a voice type. There's the soprano, mezzo-soprano and then the contralto, which is the rarest..."

"Oh, um... okay." Terra stood there, brow still furrowed in thought. "Celes?"

"Hmm?"

"What's a soprano?"

Celes shook her head and chuckled. She patted the floor next to her. "Sit down and I'll do what I can to explain."

* * *

><p>Four days later, the day before the premiere, in the gardens behind the opera house...<p>

...

Terra kept to the bushes and simply observed. She hadn't meant to hide - even if that was kind of exactly what she was doing now - it was just something she did without thinking.

On the other side of the bushes and the concrete railing surrounding this garden, Sabin and Celes were dueling. It had been the sounds of exertion and the cracking of sword on sword that had grabbed her attention in the first place.

Celes was wearing a pair of tan colored shorts and a tight, sleeveless green shirt that was growing ever more stained with sweat. Her long blonde hair bounced here and there in its ponytail as she swiftly avoided Sabin's attacks; dodging, parrying with her weapon, even leaping out of the way. They were only using wooden practice swords, but judging by the welts on both their bodies it still must've hurt like hell to get hit by them.

Her gaze was hard, dangerous, _feral_. It reminded Terra of her own no longer human self, with its sharp, almost claw-like nails and unnatural strength. She could remember how she first reacted when she transformed, how she relied entirely on instinct. Celes was doing exactly that now.

Sabin on the other hand, didn't betray his emotions outwardly. His muscles tensed as he deflected Celes' sudden attacks with his own wooden sword, but his countenance remained serene. His old master, Duncan, must've trained him very well.

At that moment, Terra realized that she had never seen so much as a tear out of him, despite recently losing the man who had taught him everything he knew.

A yell broke her thoughts. Celes did that a lot when she was fighting. It was how Terra was able to track her down on that snow swept battlefield north of Narshe; her battle cries gave her away.

Celes was the opposite of Sabin. Her expressions changed all the time; from anger to joy, from frustration to pride, depending on how the fight progressed. Meanwhile, though Sabin was enormously strong, physically stronger than any creature Terra had ever seen, he remained composed throughout the fight. He'd get knocked down, jump right back up on his feet and brush himself off like it hadn't fazed him in the slightest. And all that despite the growing number of bruises on his body.

It was strange; Celes was the ice mage, yet Sabin was the one was always so cool under pressure. Instead, the former general was like a flame that burned bright and hot. It was a flame that Terra found herself wanting to reach out and touch even though she knew it was dangerous.

How could someone look so beautiful, yet be so dangerous at the same time? Terra found the seeming contradiction impossible to come to grips with. Her mind grew increasingly foggy as she watched the woman and an unexplainable anxious feeling began to take hold. Her breathing grew harder and the world around her grew ever warmer even as everything else, the leaves rustling in the wind, the birds chirping, all faded from view until nothing was left in her mind except Celes Chère.

The heat grew... it reminded her of her transformation in a way, the way everything turned to fire. She didn't know why, but watching Celes, the way her exposed muscles rippled as she evaded Sabin's every move, the way her eyes flashed when she was about to strike, the sweat dripping down her face... it brought those feelings right back, and it made Terra want to... well, she didn't really know... but it made her want to do_ something_.

The thought of being in Sabin's place, those dangerous eyes boring into her own instead of his... the thought made Terra's face heat up. Surely that wasn't a normal reaction? Was she in danger of losing control of herself again?

"Okay, okay," Sabin said gasping, putting up his hands before Celes could lunge at him again. "That's enough for one day, I think."

She stopped in mid-swing. "Oh," she said, lowering her weapon and then stabbing in into the soft ground until the sword stuck out from it without support. "Are you all right?"

Sabin tossed his own wooden sword to the ground in defeat. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "I'm just going to go lie down for a day or two."

Celes rolled her eyes; she hadn't hit him _that_ hard. "I could heal those bruises for you, you know."

He held up his hands again. "No, no. It's the only way I'll learn."

The former general grinned. "Someone teach you that?"

He nodded. "Master Duncan was very... _strict_."

She shook her head. "Well, he sounds a lot like my old drill sergeant. Duncan wasn't a former Imperial officer by any chance?"

Sabin gave a short laugh as he limped away. "I'd love to ask him about that."

While Sabin stalked off to nurse his wounds, Terra willed herself to pop up from behind the banister before she gave herself a chance to really think about what she was doing.

"Terra?" Celes was still breathing hard. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with her arm but she relaxed slightly and gave that sort of nervous half-smile that the half-esper had seen a hundred times since they had been reacquainted.

"What were you doing?" Terra asked. Sure, she had been watching long enough to know the answer to that question, but Celes didn't need to know that.

"Oh, just sparring. I don't want to get soft."

"Soft?" she repeated, tilting her head curiously. Soft wasn't a word she'd ever use to describe Celes.

"From wearing dresses and singing all day, I mean."

Terra pursed her lips. Celes said the strangest things sometimes.

"Yeah. Um... that sounded kinda stupid, didn't it?"

The half-esper kept her lips firmly closed.

Again that half-smile reappeared. "So... um, what brings you out here?"

"I was looking for you."

That seemed to surprise her. "Oh. Well, here I am," she said lamely.

"Did you want to spar some more?"

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, but I already wore Sabin out, and I haven't seen Locke all day."

She kept her mouth shut. Earlier in the day, Locke had given her some mana potions to give to Celes. It went unsaid, but she was pretty sure he was avoiding the woman until her anger cooled off... at least a little.

Terra smiled as she pushed herself off the banister. "Well, I could be your opponent," she suggested as she picked Sabin's discarded practice sword off the ground.

Celes' eyes widened. "Umm..."

"You can't hurt me. Not really anyway. And we both have healing magic."

Celes slowly nodded, but her expression betrayed her horror at the idea. How could she get out of this one, she wondered, but Terra remained there waiting expectantly, dressed in a simple white shirt and shorts. The former general sighed, took a few moments to heal the worst of her own bruises, then raised her sword and assumed something resembling a battle stance.

A nod from Terra let her know to begin. For a long time they only circled each other, Celes struggling to come up with different ways of defeating her friend without causing any serious damage.

Eventually Terra began to grow bored with this. She feinted with the wooden sword, and faster than Celes would've believed possible, the smaller woman grabbed her wrist, plucked the weapon from her hand and threw her unceremoniously to the ground.

Breathing hard, Celes pushed herself onto her knees and looked up at the still standing woman with shock written on her face. _'What the hell was that!?' _she asked herself. Terra only smiled at her and stretched out her hand. She didn't look even the least bit winded.

Celes shook her head, refusing the offered hand, and hauled herself up. Terra handed her back her sword, which she accepted with a somewhat annoyed grunt.

After she dusted herself off, they faced each other again, and again Celes was taken to the ground within seconds.

It took several more falls before the woman really began to look determined... indeed, almost angry, as she had before with Sabin. Now, Terra knew, Celes was finally using all her strength. She was no longer holding back. Terra was no longer being treated like a delicate flower, she was finally being taken seriously.

Before this moment, Terra had promised herself she would keep to the ground and not use her new-found esper powers to her advantage; no flying, and certainly no magic, but now it was severely tempting to give in. Celes was really trying her hardest. It was a struggle just to keep up.

The warrior lunged forward, slicing downward with her sword and giving the same sort of cry she might give while charging the enemy on the field of battle. With a loud crack from the clashing wooden weapons, Terra was pushed back and only just managed to shift to the side and deflect the blow without losing her balance.

Terra hadn't fought someone in this new body of hers before. There was a nagging desire to drop her weapon, crouch low and fight with her hands, as though her body instinctively knew that was the natural way for her esper half to fight. She tried her best to ignore the feeling; this was a practice match after all, not a fight to the death. It didn't help that she was used to fighting with two blades... she had to be so much more careful when fighting with just one.

Only an instant passed before Celes charged again, landing a series of strikes that began knocking wooden splinters off both their weapons.

The fierce look in those eyes was distracting, and when Terra was forced backwards she tripped and found herself on her back. She gasped when Celes landed on top of her and quickly pressed her mangled wooden practice sword against her neck. She stared deeply into her eyes, breathing heavily with an almost crazed looked of triumph on her face.

That nagging, anxious feeling returned but about a thousand times more powerful than before. Terra felt hot again, but this heat was concentrated somewhere entirely different. She didn't know what to make of that either.

Celes wasn't moving and Terra felt trapped, cornered as though by a wild animal, but oddly, uncomprehendingly, the sensation wasn't as terrifying as it should've been. Strands of blonde hair freed from the woman's ponytail brushed against her face. Every bit of skin those hairs touched burned like a fire.

The warrior's blue eyes bored into hers as they both continued to gasp for breath. "Terra?" Celes began, her voice harsher and deeper than she had ever heard it before.

The nearby tower bell began tolling. Celes shook her head and looked up. Quickly she mastered herself, "I should... uh... take a shower, I think," she breathed, quickly rising to her feet without her usual grace. Once standing she nervously offered a hand to Terra and pulled her up. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Terra could only shake her head. She wasn't hurt - confused, definitely - but not hurt.

...

Later that evening...

...

The choreographer was remarkably patient with her considering she had never danced before in her life. The routine was actually deceptively simple and all the other girls had been really kind and understanding regarding her complete lack of experience. And she was surprised by how much she enjoyed the dancing.

Still, it was surreal spending so much time with eleven men and women all dressed up to look exactly like her; a little make-believe esper family. Her dance partner was a man named Ramón, from some small town on the south coast. He was nice, and handsome like Edgar but with much shorter hair, though his accent was so thick that she could barely understand a word he said.

She tapped her long nails against the countertop she was leaning against. What was Celes doing now, she wondered. In all the days she had been here, she hadn't had any opportunity to watch the woman perform. Unfortunately, Maria and the fairies were never on the stage at the same time. She really hoped she would get the chance to see Celes sing before they all had to leave.

Men and women, fellow fairies mostly, were chatting to each other in this large dressing room as the artists removed their makeup. Once they found out that Terra's 'makeup' was in fact completely natural, many began to carefully avoid her. However, a few cast-members found her uniqueness fascinating and kept her company while all her Returner friends were away. None of them were here now though and she felt her loneliness keenly. Celes, she knew, was practicing up in Maria's room and probably wouldn't want to be disturbed tonight.

Behind her, she heard loud banging sounds as the stage scenery was being moved about. That was followed by a hysterical shout from what sounded like the impresario. Everything here seemed to be a bit chaotic to her, but perhaps that was normal in this business?

"Terra?"

The woman was surprised to hear one of the fairies call out her name. The young woman's name was Kiri. She had very pale skin and bright, green eyes, but her naturally dark hair was as pink as Terra's now. Her pointed, prosthetic ears had been removed earlier, so she looked almost human. Totally human, probably, if you compared her to some of those young people in Zozo...

But unlike Terra, Kiri actually had a real singing role as one of the queen's entourage. Her voice was very pretty, she thought, kind of like silk.

"How are you feeling?" the woman asked, an ever present smile on her face. Kiri was probably the closest person she had to a friend amongst the cast and crew, Celes excepted of course. She was friendly, upbeat and - for whatever reason - enjoyed Terra's company. They ended up spending a lot of time together since all her Returner friends were always so busy.

"I'm okay," Terra said, shrugging a bit. She stared back at her reflection in the giant wall mirror and realized that she was almost used to the way she looked now.

"You're not nervous about tomorrow?"

Terra shook her head.

"Good. Good!" Kiri said, sitting down on the stool next to her. "Look, I – uh – wanted to ask you something. About Celes, I mean."

_That_ got Terra's attention. "Celes?"

"Yeah. You know her right?"

She gave a little humble shrug. Everyone seemed to know that she and Celes were friends. Terra was practically the only person that Maria's stand-in spoke to aside from the director and the two men she would be singing and dancing with in the upcoming performance.

"Is it true what they're saying about her?"

Terra's brow scrunched up at the question. "I... don't know. What do they say about her?"

Kiri looked around nervously, then she gently grabbed Terra's arm and pulled her away to a corner of the room, well out of earshot of the others. "I heard that she likes..." at Terra's uncomprehending expression, she reluctantly continued in a whisper, "you know, men _and _women."

She didn't know if her blush was noticeable when she had pink skin, but Terra was certainly blushing now. "Oh... um, yeah," she said lamely.

The woman was smiling again, but still she whispered, "Do you think she'd be interested... in someone like me?"

A gulp. "I - uh, don't really know."

Kiri pouted. "You don't think I'm her type..."

She shook her head. "I don't really know her type. We've only really known each other for a few months."

Kiri frowned. "Oh... it's just…" she sighed dreamily, "she's a _general_… or was one anyway. That's so amazing! I've tried talking to her, but I never know what to say. I just end up gaping at her like a fish, or babbling like an idiot. She's nice though. She smiled that one time we actually spoke. Oh, she's so beautiful when she smiles. Completely unlike Maria... when she smiles at you, you can tell it's always fake and -"

Terra remained silent during all this babbling. Celes _was_ pretty famous. Did she have a lot of fans like this? Oh, she suddenly realized that Kiri was looking at her expectantly.

"So, should I ask her? You know her best."

The half-esper scratched the back of her head. Something told her to say no, though she knew not why. "Now isn't really the best time..."

She expected a poor reaction, but Kiri's face actually brightened a bit. "You're right!" she cried out, so loudly that some of the others in the room turned to look at them for a moment. "I should wait until after the performance, so it won't distract me if says no... or yes," she drawled out the last word, and her expression made it seem like she imagining the latter. Terra, of course, had actually meant that now wasn't the best time because they were about to commandeer an airship and fly it to Vector, but perhaps it was better this way. Locke was pretty adamant that she tell the cast and crew as little as possible about their plans or why they were really here.

And besides, what if Celes _did_ say yes to her? For some reason, she didn't like the idea.

"Thank you so much, Terra," Kiri said as she gave her a surprisingly strong hug. "You're a real friend!"

She practically danced out of the room, leaving Terra looking after her in confusion. Strange. She didn't feel like much of a friend...

* * *

><p>"Must I forget you? Our solemn promise?<p>

Will autumn take the place of spring?

What shall I do? I'm lost without you.

Speak to me once more!"

...

Out of the mist, Draco appeared before her eyes, his light skin and polished armor shining in the moonlight like something out of a dream.

For a moment she stood there in shocked silence, she could barely even see his face, but when she caught a hint of his gentle smile, she rushed to him as he held out a hand for her to take. "Come, Maria!" he said, his voice sounding strangely ethereal and distant, like it was coming from far away somehow, "Follow my lead."

One arm wrapped reassuringly around her back, his other hand holding gently on to hers they began to dance. There was music coming from... somewhere. But that didn't matter to her right now. _He_ was really here. It wasn't her imagination. She knew he would come back for her.

She looked up into his bright blue eyes, feeling completely safe and happier than she ever had in her life.

The morning sun lit the scene as they danced and she lost herself in it. Surely, regaining one's love thought lost forever was the greatest joy a person could ever experience. Then she looked over his shoulder. She had been wrong; there was no sun, it was still much to dark, but everything was lit with a disturbing orange flickering light. The city - her city - was in flames.

"Draco!" she whimpered, but he only embraced her tighter as if it was all he could do to protect her from the coming storm.

She buried her face into his shoulder as she the sounds of explosions and crumbling buildings began to come from every direction. Tears dripped onto his polished armor. Somehow, without a word, she knew the end was coming. The walls of the castle shook and fell one by one, yet every falling stone and beam missed them as they continued their slow dance.

Then she heard the chants of troops, "Hurrah! Hurrah!" As they came on, they drowned out the growing cries and wails of her people. She felt the vibrations of hundreds of men marching in unison and knew they would soon be here.

Looking back up, she stared in disbelief at her lover's face. Long green hair flowed out of his helmet now. Then a flash from an exploding bomb lit his, or rather _her_, face.

She gasped. "_Terra?_"

The woman looked down on her. Her expression was one of tenderness and love. It held her enraptured, even as the clamor of marching troops grew closer and closer. Terra gently brushed some stray hairs from Celes' shocked face, then placed a finger over the blonde's mouth when she tried to speak.

Suddenly, hands tore her away, and Celes looked on in horror as a sword blade quickly ran Terra through from behind.

Crying out as the body crumpled before her, Celes could see who had done it... it was _her_. It was Celes herself, dressed in the armor of an Imperial general.

Her mirror image grinned evilly back at her as she pushed Terra's dead body off her sword with a gauntleted hand, kicking it with a bloody boot for good measure. Then she held the blood stained weapon high above Celes' head for all to see. "Long live Emperor Gestahl!" she cried to a thundering chorus of cheers. Then, mercifully, the sword fell.

…

Celes lay on her bed clutching her pillow, her sheets scattered to the floor. It was only a dream - she knew that - but what she had seen wouldn't leave her mind.

She knew she shouldn't dwell on it. But _that _was the kind of thing she had told herself a thousand times when she carrying out the instructions of the emperor. Dreams as disturbing as that one were a pretty common occurrence for her ever since she'd killed her first human. Perhaps she _should _dwell on it. Perhaps she deserved to spend the rest of her life dwelling on it.

Struggling to master herself, the woman finally threw the pillow aside and sat up. Briefly, she considered getting dressed and preparing herself for the long day ahead, but the memories of her dream refused to fade. Death... year after year, battle after battle. That was her one contribution to the world... the dream had been right.

Without even thinking, she reached over to the phonograph machine at her bedside, returned the needle to its starting position and switched the machine on. All she could do was collapse onto the bed as the record began to play. Hopefully, the music would help her forget.

A familiar voice surprised her,_ 'You know, your subconscious is almost as bad as mine.'_ It was the first time Artemis had spoken to her in days.

'_Yeah, I guess,'_ Celes thought. She really didn't want to talk to the esper now. Wearily, she rolled over and glanced at the clock; 7:36 am. She sighed. Tonight was the big night. In roughly fourteen hours they would either be on their way to Vector in an airship, or resorting to plan B: scrounging up enough gold to buy a ship and hoping that they reached the Southern Continent without running into the Imperial Navy.

It made the idea of having Terra fly each of them to Vector one at a time seem brilliant by comparison.

She lay there for a few more minutes before, in a sudden surge of anger, she pushed herself off the bed, and quickly made her way to the far end of the room, throwing open the doors leading to Maria's private balcony. Celes leaned tiredly on the heavy, stone railing, the anger leaving as quickly as it had appeared as she rubbed her face with her hand, trying to pull herself together. The balcony looked over a city of orange tiled roofs and elaborately decorated buildings. In the distance she could even see Owzer's mansion on top of the hill.

Maranda looked like this once, she remembered, but not anymore.

The burning of Maranda, the sight of men, women and children lying dead at the side of the road. All that blood was ultimately on her hands. All those lives ended because of an order she gave miles away in a tent somewhere. How many romances like Maria and Draco's had ended because of her? How many Jidoors had burned while her units marched inexorably towards Maranda?

She felt a tear run down her cheek. Bloody hell, she really didn't want to look in a mirror right now. She was a complete wreck.

The familiar voice returned, _'I hate to admit it, but you and I really are a lot alike.'_

_'What do you mean?' _Celes asked._  
><em>

Artemis ignored the question. _'You can't let your regrets rule your life. Take it from someone who's lived a very long time.'_

The woman grunted. Since when did the esper in her head care so much?

_'Stop being so damn hard on yourself.'_

Another grunt was all the blonde would give in response.

A long silence followed, but for some reason Artemis was unusually chatty this morning._ 'So...' _she drawled. _'When's Terra coming back?'_

Celes blinked. _ 'Terra? Why do you ask?'_

'_She's cute.'_

That was the last thing she expected to hear and Celes shook her head as she tried to stifle a disbelieving laugh. _'I've never been happier that I can't read your mind.'_

Artemis continued, unfazed,_ 'You should spend more time with her. She's a good influence on you.'_

_'Thanks, mom,'_ Celes thought sarcastically.

_'Bitch.'_

Celes chuckled to herself. Strangely, she felt just the tiniest bit better.

Her thoughts turned to tonight's performance. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she would one day be singing opera in front of twenty-five hundred people. "If only Gestahl could see me now..." she said aloud. He'd never believe it.

She tapped her hand against the railing. Despite it all, she had to admit that she'd had fun the past few days. It was nice to forget herself for a few days and play the role of someone else.

Again, she remembered her dream. Celes should've been nauseated at the idea of being anyone's damsel in distress, even Terra's. Clearly, that bizarre memory was a sign that she had been in Maria's shoes for far too long.

Besides, in her dream, Terra had been taller than her... that was so not the case in real life.

She muttered to herself, "Stupid dreams..."

Just then she heard the door open and knew instantly who it was without even looking. Soft feet padded along the floor, growing louder until at last Terra joined her at the railing, dressed in that same white shirt she normally wore when not in costume.

Celes continued looking at those roofs reflecting brightly in the morning sun. She could think of a million reasons why Terra should stay far away from her, but she couldn't give voice to them. Terra's presence was probably the only thing keeping her sane. It was the only thing left that she couldn't bear to lose.

Two sides of her warred with each other in her head: one side reasoning that Terra would better off the further away she was from Celes, the other side wanting Terra for herself. But was such a thing even possible?

"Celes, what's wrong?" Terra asked. The woman gasped when she got a better look at Celes' face. "You've been crying."

The concern in her voice made Celes' heart ache. She couldn't bear to look into those worried blue eyes, so she shook her head and kept her attention on the distant horizon to keep herself from crying again. "Just a stupid dream," she mumbled.

"What was it about?"

The blonde woman kept silent, she wouldn't tell her about that dream. It was stupid anyway...

Without really thinking, Terra placed a hand on the woman's bare upper back. She used her healing magic to see if there was anything physically wrong with her friend, but all she could find were knotted muscles.

Celes made to stand up but the younger woman's hand kept her in place easily. "Stay still, let me see."

The blonde did as she was instructed. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Terra cautiously run her hand up and down her spine, her hand glowing with the green light of healing magic, her face showing genuine concern.

"You won't tell me what's wrong," Terra said, "but the muscles of your upper back are all knotted up." Those surprisingly soft clawed hands move up her back. "I can at least fix that…"

Celes squeezed her eyes shut and fought the urge to whimper. The contact felt way too good after such a horrible night.

"So," Terra began, trying to come up with something to distract the older woman as she worked on her back, "Are you ready for tonight?" It was on the tip of her tongue... what she really wanted to talk about was the strange feelings she'd had in Celes' presence yesterday, but she just couldn't do it. Certainly not now. Celes, of course, if she had been aware of Terra's discomfort, said nothing.

The woman sounded exhausted. She must not have slept well. "Yeah... I think so," she said with a yawn.

Terra frowned, the woman needed to be well rested if she was going to perform tonight. As she was thinking this a glow came from the pocket of her shorts. When she wasn't practicing her dancing she liked to carry one of the magicite stones with her. Ramuh said they were supposed to teach magic to whomever held them, but so far no one in their group had learned any such thing... but then they had all been rather busy lately.

In her mind she could hear a sweet female voice and it took some concentration before she could make out the words, _'Sleep,'_ it said.

Over the last few days Terra had spoken to each of the stones they had been given. The one she carried now was all that was left of the esper Siren, a beautiful, blonde haired woman. _'Siren?'_ she asked.

Without placing her hand over the stone she couldn't see the creature in her mind, but somehow she knew the esper was smiling reassuringly at her. _'Sleep,'_ she repeated.

Unknowingly, Celes interrupted them. "What happens in the grove scene, exactly?" She sort of knew the answer to that question already, but she hadn't really had much time to look over the scenes she wasn't in.

"Oh, um... well," Terra began, putting her conversation with Siren on hold for a moment, "that man, Draco, he gets wounded and flees into the forest... Then he's rescued and nursed back to health by the beautiful fairy queen. She falls in love with him, though I'm not really sure why. Anyway, he doesn't return her love and leaves in the night to rescue Maria. Or, um, something like that... I'm off stage when that happens."

Celes nodded as she tried to rub at her upper back. She ached in all sorts of strange places. Normally, it was a simple matter of healing herself to get rid of such pains, but she was too exhausted. Locke had better get back with more mana potions soon, she thought. He was on thin ice with her as it was. Wordlessly, Terra stopped her and replaced the woman's hand with her own. Slowly, the pain melted away.

"Is that normal?"

"Huh? Is what normal?" Celes mumbled.

"To fall in love so quickly, I mean?"

Another half-smile. "Sometimes," she said, her eyes now on the gardens below the balcony. "But in an opera? Always."

Terra continued working on the woman's back for another few minutes. She knew from personal experience that healing magic could feel very soothing when it was used lightly, as she was doing now. Then, in the silence, Siren spoke again. _'Sleep,'_ she repeated; a command this time, not a suggestion. Without warning, magic flowed through Terra's body, up her arm and into Celes' back. Immediately, the blonde woman slumped against the railing and began snoring lightly.

Panicking for half a second, Terra could only giggle when she realized what had actually happened. She stared disbelievingly first at Celes, then at her hand.

Looking at the next balcony over, she saw a dove cooing softly. She outstretched her hand to it. "Sleep," she commanded, and with that same rush of magic the bird slumped to the floor, eyes closed. Terra giggled again.

Gently, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the stone. She now knew a new magical spell thanks to this generous esper. "Thank you," she said out loud. In her mind she could see the woman inside smiling warmly back at her.

Still grinning, Terra picked up the sleeping woman, carried her through the doors and gently placed her back on the bed.

* * *

><p>Next Chapter: The curtain rises.<p>

* * *

><p>Excessively long AN – I had to flesh out the plot of 'Maria and Draco' a bit in order for it to seem like it would take a full 2 ½ - 3 hours to perform, which is a typical length for your average opera. Setzer appears at the climax of act 1, which implies there is at least one more act to follow, so Draco's epic duel with Ralse actually occurs at what for my purposes I'm assuming to be the halfway point of the opera, or roughly ninety minutes in. Of course, all my little additions have been added without the permission of the Nobou Uematsu and Yoshinori Kitase, the two enormously talented people who wrote the score for this wonderful game.<p>

All the minor characters that appear in this and the next chapter are named after some of my favorite real-life opera singers. Their personalities don't necessarily match though.

And don't worry, Kiri is just a very minor character, she's not intended to be any kind of obstacle between Celes and Terra's budding romance. I mostly threw her in there to make Terra jealous, even if she's too naive to realize it's jealousy she's feeling. :)

Oh, and if you've never heard it, I suggest going to Youtube and listening to the 'Distant Worlds' version of _'Maria and Draco'_. It's quite nice, as are many of the other tracks on that album. You can buy the whole thing for nine USD on Amazon. That's like one British pound!*

*a slight exaggeration.


	11. Opportunity Makes the Thief

AN - You don't have to lie... I know you are all angry at me :( I can only say that I'm really sorry about how long you've had to wait for this chapter. Not only was it difficult for me to write, but I had a really lousy couple of weeks back there _and_ on top of that there were those six days I spent without power thanks to Hurricane Sandy. Bleh.

Anyways, things are better now.

* * *

><p>"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr<p>

Chapter 11: "Opportunity Makes the Thief"

...

"My master tells everyone he's sensitive but it's only himself he loves.

At least he manages to live in peace and good health.

He loves piling up debts but not so much paying them. He's drawn to women.

In short, he's one of many you find in society."

- Martino, from Rossini's '_L'occasione fa il ladro'_

...

7:25 p.m. at the Royal Opera House.

...

As quietly as she could, the half-esper climbed the ladder to the rafters above. There were easier ways of getting to the roof - particularly for someone commanding the power of flight - but she was trying to avoid attracting attention to herself and that was already hard enough to do when your entire body was pink. She couldn't let anyone from the cast to see her ducking out the side door, or even worse_, _flying. Tonight's performance needed to go off without a hitch, but she really wanted to see the opera's opening from the point of view of the audience instead of merely from the wings.

Terra had no idea if she'd ever get the chance to see one again.

Gently, she pushed open the aging wooden hatch and climbed out onto the roof. Celes had told her that Setzer was likely to make his entrance from all the way up here, and normally that would demand the posting of guards, or so the impresario confided in them, but since they _wanted_ Celes to be captured... well, they just needed to let Setzer have his way with as little interruption as possible.

It was a warm evening, as it usually was in Jidoor no matter what the season. The sun hung low over the city and bathed both the clouds and the many tiled roofs in a beautiful golden light.

Terra quickly found what she was looking for: another disused hatch that led down into an abandoned storage room. The room itself would've been unremarkable except that it featured a long row of ancient windows that commanded an excellent, if very high and distant, view of the stage. Forgotten, dusty light stands spoke to the room's original purpose. Dusting the cobwebs off herself, Terra stepped up to a window that was missing its pane of glass and peered out on the enormous auditorium below.

She had arrived just in time. Giant red velour curtains still covered the stage as the lights were beginning to dim. For the first time, Terra saw the seats in the horseshoe shaped auditorium filled with people; ladies with elaborate dresses and even more elaborate hairstyles, men with long hair and fancy but uncomfortable looking suits. The vast majority of those tiny heads had grey hair.

She had never seen so many people gathered in one place before.

But, no, that wasn't true, was it? There were those Imperial rallies she'd been forced to attend. The slave crown had been on her head almost every time she stepped outside of her cell in those days, but she could still hear the speeches and see the endless sea of people in her mind.

Those rallies were nothing like this.

Thank the creators they were nothing like this.

The conversations of some two-thousand people were hushed by a sound that was now very familiar to Terra's pointed ears; the tender, yet penetrating sound of the oboe playing an A note. The musicians were tuning up their instruments.

Terra didn't know exactly why, but that noise spoke to her. There was something primal about it all; the airy sounds of the violins being joined the deep thrum of the cellos. She thought of Celes and Locke, Banon and Edgar and the rest of her Returner friends; each so very different, but each one adding their distinct voices and talents to the whole. In their own way, each and every one of them were striving to create a better world.

And surely, the musicians in their own way were doing that too.

With that wonderful sound came a tension that seemed to fill the air. Maybe the audience felt it too because when the tuning came to the end not a whisper could be heard in the auditorium. Several dozen talented men and women were preparing to create something very beautiful. Something that words could do no justice to. Terra's small hands gripped the window-sill. Those hands commanded perhaps the most powerful magic any living being had ever seen, but did they have the power to create something as magnificent as what she was about to hear?

Finally, when the lights had dimmed completely, the conductor appeared to the great applause of the crowd. He was naturally ebullient old man with fiery red hair and a beard to match. Smiling broadly, he turned and waved to the audience before ascending the podium and raising his baton.

With the first note of the martial sounding overture, the curtains opened to reveal a rocky plain in front of a painted backdrop of mountains and the clouds beyond. Over the music that followed, one man walked slowly onto the stage. Terra immediately recognized him as Draco by his highly reflective armor that practically glowed under the stage lights. As the music played on, soldiers on chocobos charged past him from stage right. He fell to the ground from a blow from the final rider just as the overture reached its climax.

Staggering to his feet and clutching his wounded chest, Draco began to sing,

_"Oh, Maria_

_Oh, Maria_

_Though I call you from afar_

_Will this message reach your heart?_

_Oh, how I long to be with you..."_

Celes once told her that every opera was about love in one way or another. Terra wondered if she could learn anything from this one.

As Draco's few remaining officers gathered around him on stage, Terra became aware of a familiar sensation coming the pouch attached to her drawstring belt. Instinctively, she placed a hand over it. _'Siren?'_

The magicite stone shone through the leather material, but she didn't pull it out. Terra knew from experience that she could spend hours simply staring at this particular stone if she wasn't careful. There was something about Siren that lured people to her, and whatever it was, it seemed that despite being an esper, Terra wasn't immune to it.

She felt more than heard the creature's reply. Without warning, her thoughts were filled with images of a familiar looking blonde general. "Celes?" she asked aloud and again Terra felt more than heard Siren's agreement. "What about her?"

The esper doesn't respond in her usual way. Instead, the outside world faded and Terra saw herself running towards the woman's changing room.

"You want me to go to her? Why?"

Those images faded and this time she saw the ghostly image of Siren herself standing before her in the dusty old room.

Much like Ramuh, Siren was nearly indistinguishable from an ordinary human. Her upper body was partly covered by a tight-fitting blue blouse but below that she was very much naked. Terra blinked. Espers really didn't seem to care about nudity one way or the other. However, unlike Ramuh, Siren was physically the perfect human; a flawless manifestation of the ideal human form: with her golden mane of hair, entrancing blue eyes, powerful muscles...

Perfect.

And it didn't entirely escape her notice that Siren looked a lot like someone else she knew...

The esper was smiling brightly at her. She might _look_ like Celes, but Terra could still tell the difference between the two. For one thing, Celes rarely smiled. And when she did, it was never quite so affectionately.

Siren cocked her head, as if waiting for Terra to say something.

"I, uh..." If Celes were standing here, naked from the waist down, Terra suspected she would have similar difficulties forming even the simplest of sentences.

Siren's smile morphed into a grin. Finally, her lips moved, "Celes," the esper said, her voice like silk. "She needs my help."

Terra shivered. She was secretly glad Siren seldom spoke. Her voice made Terra want to wrap her arms around the esper and never let go.

Siren giggled and Terra blinked rapidly. The illusion was instantly broken. Celes _never_ giggled.

She shook her head and looked away. "Okay," she said quickly. "I'll bring you to her... just no more speaking, all right?"

The esper nodded but looked ever so slightly hurt by the request as she faded from view.

Terra went running for the still open hatch, just as a march began to play signaling the beginning of Draco's second aria. In twenty minutes she would need to be on that stage. She had to hurry.

...

Celes was intently observing a very strange reflection in the mirror. An unfamiliar visage was staring right back at her; the woman's face was heavily made-up, her hair was tied with ribbons and she wore a white, low-cut dress with gold embroidery. It was a completely alien sight.

She stuck out her tongue. The mirror image did the same. It was hard to believe it was true. Celes sighed and pushed back from the counter-top. "Yep, still me," she muttered.

There was still a half hour or so before she would have to take her place at the left side of the stage. Plenty of time to obsess over how she was really not ready to stand out there in front of several thousand people and imitate the world's most famous operatic soprano.

What, was she crazy?

Turning back to the mirror, Celes found herself admiring the dress. If nothing else, she had to admit she at least looked good in it, but the act of putting it on was even more complicated than donning a set of Imperial parade armor. This dress required two women to help her into. It was just so _impractical_.

it was like she was a cruiser in dry dock with scaffolding erected around her or something.

Still, she _did_ look good in it.

A stack of papers containing the music for act one sat unread on the counter. She knew it by heart now. The margins were covered with all sorts of notes, mostly stage directions, but if she didn't know them by heart by now it was definitely much too late.

There came a knock at the door and again she checked the clock._ 'Thirty minutes to go.' _She called for the person to enter.

Surprisingly, it was Locke. He hadn't exactly dressed up for the occasion, but his boots were freshly shined and his coat and trousers showed little of the wear they must have been put through over the past months. Upon shutting the door, the man took one look at Celes and his face flushed pinker than Terra's skin. "Aye yai yai! Is that _you_?!"

Celes crossed her arms and let out a sigh. She wasn't looking forward to similar reactions from everyone who knew her. An awkward silence followed. Through the walls, she could hear just barely hear Draco singing upon his arrival in the enchanted forest.

Seemingly embarrassed for himself, Locke quickly dug something out of his pants pocket. "Sabin wanted me to give this to you."

Her eyebrow arched and she deftly caught the gold sovereign that Locke tossed her way.

"He says it brings good luck."

She turned the coin over in her hand. On one side was a portrait of a decidedly youthful Edgar Figaro and on the reverse, his younger brother Sabin. The date indicated it was minted ten years ago. "Good luck?" she repeated.

"Trust me," the thief said with a wink.

There came another knock. With a feeling of dread, Celes bid whoever-it-was to enter, but it wasn't the call for her to take her place, it was Terra, still in her fairy costume. "Sorry," the girl said quickly, "I didn't mean to interrupt -"

"You aren't," Celes replied. "Come in."

Terra did so, conscious of the way the long nails on her toes tapped the tiled floor as she moved. Her throat went dry when Celes approached her.

"So," the blonde woman said, dropping her hands to her sides, "What do you think?"

Celes had a strange look in her eyes at that moment. It was as though she was really interested in Terra's opinion but was pretending not to be. The esper found herself nervously scratching her head, "Y - you look really... _nice_." When the words finished stumbling out of her mouth Terra was left feeling like the biggest idiot the world had ever seen, but Celes only smiled back at her.

"Yeah," Locke added. "That ribbon suits you."

Celes tilted her head and admired herself in the mirror. The blue ribbon tying up her hair perfectly matched her eyes. And yes, it _did_ suit her at that.

And the dress wasn't really all that bad either, though she couldn't imagine ever wearing it in public. For one thing, every man within gawking distance would be staring at her breasts. The stares she got back home were bad enough when she was fully clad in armor and had a sword by her side.

And that was the second flaw of this dress: there was no way to carry a weapon while wearing it. She looked over her shoulder. _'Perhaps if I strapped it to my back.' _

As Celes inexplicably looked behind herself, Terra failed to suppress the urge to stare at the woman more openly. Thankfully, Locke was doing the same so he couldn't rat on her.

Oblivious, Celes closed her eyes and sighed. "This... this really isn't going to work, you know?"

Locke blinked. "What do you mean?"

"It's one thing to sing and impress a few friends, it's quite another to sing in front of a thousand people and pass myself off as the greatest opera diva in all the world."

"But -" Terra began, "the impresario told me you were doing really well."

Celes shook her head. "He's very charitable. But even with a decade of training, I still wouldn't sound like Maria and he damn well knows it."

As if on cue, the esper in Terra's pouch glowed. She pulled it out and Celes curiously turned on her heels when she saw its light shining on the walls. "She wanted me to bring her to you," Terra explained.

The soldier took the shining stone in her hand. Instantly, Siren stood before her, just as Artemis had done in Zozo's tower many days ago. Everything else faded from view, including the very room she stood in. Celes found herself on the ramparts of the tower she had seen in her dream last night; Maria's home, the great fortress of the West.

However, that wasn't really what had her eye at the moment. Siren was standing before her... but was this really what she looked like? Green hair, pale skin, a thin body that held immense power inside it... she looked so very much Terra.

Siren spoke. Her voice too was very familiar; soft, gentle, _soothing_, "You are worried."

Celes blinked. Was she worried? She wracked her dazed mind for an answer. She couldn't seem to remember _ever _being worried. As far as she knew she had born on this castle wall, forever staring into endless and hypnotic blue eyes.

The woman smiled softly and this time her mouth didn't open when she spoke. It was just like 'talking' to Artemis, _'I will lend you my power tonight.'_

Finally, the blonde woman understood. Siren, the singing esper, was going to help her through tonight's performance. _'Isn't this technically cheating?'_

_'Is it cheating when my friends grant you the powers they once had?'_

_'I see your point.'_

The two women just stood there for a while longer. Celes couldn't take her eyes of this esper and she couldn't resist asking, "Are you and Terra related somehow?"

With laughter that reminded of tinkling bells, Siren shook her head. Celes watched enraptured as that green hair whipped around and settled again on her bare shoulders. Again, the esper's words entered her mind without her opening her mouth, _'When humans see me, they see what they most desire.'_

Celes gulped.

Unbeknownst to the former general, the conversation she was having wasn't exactly private. Through Siren's power, Locke and Terra both found themselves on the battlements of that same castle, looking on as Celes and the esper spoke.

Locke gasped, "Wow... can you see that?"

Terra nodded. "That's Siren."

"The esper?"

Another nod. "She once told me that when she was alive she used to lure humans to their deaths with the sound of her voice and -" she blushed at the thought, "-the sight of her body."

"I bet," Locke murmured. "She looks like someone I know... and yet..."

Terra waited for the thief to finish but he never did. His eyes were distinctly glassy. _'Oh, dear.' _Siren had that effect on people. She must've been one of the more powerful espers while she still lived.

Thankfully, the scene finally faded and all three of them found themselves back in Celes' dressing room like they had never left, and technically they hadn't. Locke blinked and shook his head. Terra was glad she wouldn't have to try prying his eyes away from whomever he saw in the esper's form. He was on thin ice with Celes as it was.

Celes had her eyes firmly shut as she tried to master herself. Would it kill the espers to put on some clothes once in a while?

Her pink-haired friend was the first to speak. "What did she say?"

"Siren's going to help me tonight."

Locke's face was still decidedly pink in hue. "Help you?"

"With the singing."

"Oh. _Right_."

"Places!" someone called out from the hallway. "Scene five places, please!"

Terra realized she wasn't sure which scene was the one she was supposed to be in. Cautiously, she poked her head out the door. "You!" a young woman shouted, looking accusingly in Terra's direction, "come with me."

...

Terra felt a great sense of relief when her scene was finally over.

When recounting his recent adventures with Cyan and Gau in the east, Sabin had described a place called the Phantom Forest: an enchanted, almost maze-like place filled with magical creatures and home to streams and lakes with healing properties.

The world of the fairies in _'Maria and Draco'_ was said to be much like that, and the crew of the opera worked hard to produce a set that could do that description justice.

She wondered if the esper world was anything like that world she had just danced in. Did her kinfolk sleep outside under the stars? Were there any stars to see? Did they have a king and queen... or did they live alone?

As a half-breed, would she even be welcome there?

Terra frowned. Being trapped in this body and surrounded by people made-up to look just like her was starting to wear on her mind. She concentrated on the sounds of the orchestra which could still be heard here in the hallway. The Fairy Queen was singing of her new-found love for Draco. Soon a melancholy duet would begin and Draco would make it clear that he still wished to return home.

Love was a strange concept; in operas at least, people could fall in love at the drop of a hat.

And it wasn't always mutual.

Unconsciously, she stretched her toes as she walked. It had been fun to lose herself in the act of dancing. Nothing else had mattered as she twirled across the stage with her brother and sister fairies, even if it was all just a few minutes of fantasy.

As quickly as she could, she made her way to Celes' dressing room and was thankful to find her there alone.

"Do you feel any better?" Terra asked after finally being invited in.

Celes' eyes shut briefly and nodded. Siren had helped warm up her voice. It sounded better than ever before. "Yeah," she said as she rubbed the stone in her hand with her thumb. "I think I can do this now..."

Terra scratched the back of her head. She liked it when it was just her and Celes alone together, but frequently she could think of nothing to say. And this time there was a nagging worry that she'd somehow undo all of Siren's hard work in building Celes' confidence by saying the wrong thing.

"Oh," Celes said suddenly. She walked over to the wall and picked up the familiar runic sword that was propped up against it. "Can you hold on to this?

Terra swallowed, "I - uh..."

Her nervousness was met with a soft chuckle. "I swear it won't hurt you. As long it's secured in its scabbard, the blade's runic abilities are neutralized."

"Oh." That was a relief. The pain from the last time she had touched it was something Terra would likely never forget. "Okay then."

Someone knocked on the door. "Places, please. Places!"

"Well," Celes said, trying to maintain her confidence, "it's time."

Terra smiled. She imagined that Celes could think of a thousand things she'd rather be doing than singing for several thousand people while wearing a big, frilly white dress. "I can wait to see it." It was the truest thing she had ever said.

The woman blushed before shaking her head and turning away. "You'd better enjoy it. It will probably be a once in a lifetime experience." Without another word, Celes disappeared out a second door that Terra hadn't even noticed until now.

Left alone, Terra cautiously approached the discarded sword, hesitated for a moment and then gently tapped the exposed hilt of the blade with her fingernail. Nothing happened.

With a quiet sigh of relief, she scooped it up and fastened the weapon to her belt.

Then the door opened. "Celes?" a male voice asked. It was Locke.

"She just left."

"Oh," he said, looking a bit disappointed. "You know, I was just thinking... maybe if you station yourself up on the catwalk you might have the best vantage point to see exactly how Setzer gets in and out. The impresario says he's likely to appear from the roof."

She frowned. She had planned on watching the upcoming aria from her special room, but you couldn't see the catwalk from there. All she would be able to see from the catwalk itself was the top of Celes' head.

"Terra?"

Wordlessly, Terra nodded and exited the room, leaving a confused Locke Cole behind her, but she stopped once she was out in the hallway. There was a note on the floor. Unable to resist, she snatched it up and read it,

_"I owe you guys one, so I'm gonna jam up your opera!"_

_- Your friend, Ultros._

Ultros? _The octopus_, Ultros? Terra couldn't believe it; she thought he was dead, killed on the Lyte River by her own fire magic.

"Uh oh," Locke said over her shoulder. "We'd better tell the impresario." Without looking back, the thief was off like a shot.

Terra's shoulders fell and she sighed loudly. Now she was going to miss Celes' entire performance. The note crumpled in her hand.

...

Her first appearance in front of the crowd went well enough. Maria's introduction involved her being present for the arrival of King Ralse. Here, the victorious conqueror delivered his entrance aria while Celes only had to sing a few lines of recitative beforehand and then look on towards the horizon, her thoughts clearly on her missing husband while Ralse gloated over his triumph.

But now was the time for her _big_ scene; Maria's aria. It was an aria that could bring down the house if sung well enough. Celes would be perfectly happy if the house remained as it was, as long as she didn't get assorted fruits and vegetables thrown at her.

Finally, her music cue came and the nearby stage-hand gently pressed Celes' back to get her moving. She wondered if she would have this strong a sense of foreboding before going out in front of a firing squad.

Almost certainly not, she decided.

As she stepped out onto the stage, Celes shut her eyes one last time and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she expected to see the waiting audience and the familiar painted wooden imitation of a castle's walls and battlements.

What actually happened was she stepped out onto a real stone tower. Instead of stage lights, stars filled the sky and a crescent moon hung low on the horizon. A cool breeze blew against her skin.

It took her a split second to realize the trick. Warmth traveled up from her hips and suffused her chest. The magicite stone containing the esper Siren sat in a little pouch Celes had specially sewn into her skirts. Originally, that hiding place was intended to conceal a small knife, but an esper would make a much more powerful weapon should Setzer prove uncooperative.

And Siren was already proving her use. This was no mere stage she was walking out onto... this was a real castle.

If she hadn't known it was an esper's work, she would've been completely unable to tell this world from the real one.

All she could hear was the music of the orchestra. Immediately, she understood what Siren was trying to do; that warmth grew to envelope her entire body, and particularly her throat. When she opened her mouth to sing, what came out sounded warm, luscious, _perfect_.

She looked out over the battlements and there was still no audience. There was nothing to be seen but the forest, the mountains and the moon beyond.

_"Oh my hero, my beloved,_

_Shall we still be made to part?_

_Your promises of perennial love_

_Yet sing here in my heart"_

Celes lost herself in her role as she continued.

_"I'm the darkness, you're the starlight_

_Shining brightly from afar_

_Through hours of despair, I offer this prayer_

_To you, my evening star_

_Must my final vows exchanged_

_Be with him and not with you?_

_Were you only here to quiet my fear_

_Oh, speak, guide me anew..."_

She climbed the spiral staircase to the top of the castle walls just as she had practiced a dozen times before, except that these stone steps didn't shake or creak as if made of wood. Draco stood on the top of the tower waiting for her in his armor, shiny as it would've been on the day he left for battle. Only... no, it wasn't Draco's face under that helmet.

It was Terra's, in all her green-haired glory.

Another surprise from Siren no doubt. Celes really hoped it was only her that could see the woman's face; otherwise the audience was bound to be incredibly confused right now.

Still, it was appropriate to see Draco as Terra. Perhaps it was hard to picture the young woman as some kind of hero, but she was. Banon had been right; Terra had the power to end this war. But Celes didn't think it would be the woman's magic, or her half-esper nature that would do it.

There was much more to her power than that.

How ironic was it that the girl who questioned her own humanity seemed to Celes to be more worthy to be called human than anyone she had ever met.

Finally, Terra spoke, and even the voice was right. "Come, Maria!" she said. "Follow my lead..."

So she danced with her. And as they slowly twirled around on the top of that moonlit tower, Celes could feel Siren guiding her feet to their proper positions, but it was hardly necessary.

It was wonderful, but sadly it was over all too quickly.

"Ha, ha, ha!"

In a flash of light, Terra was gone, leaving behind a bouquet of red roses on the floor. _'Wow,' _Celes thought. _'That went much better than it did in rehearsal.'_

As scripted, she picked up the bouquet but couldn't resist smelling them too. She had always loved roses.

Now was time for the last bit. She slowly stepped up the battlement -

_"I'm thankful, my beloved,_

_For your tenderness and grace._

_I see in your eyes,_

_So gentle and wise,_

_All doubts and fears erased!_

_Though the hours take no notice_

_Of what fate might have in store,_

_Our love, come what may,_

_Will never age a day._

_I'll wait forevermore!"_

Doing her best to look appropriately wistful, Celes tossed the flowers over the side of the tower.

When the accompanying music came to an end, Celes was left standing alone on the tower. The night sky faded from view, and her feet were again planted on a wooden platform painted and dressed up to look like a stone fortification. Her singing was done with. The hard part was over. She was supposed to wait here for about fifteen seconds before the chancellor arrived, but with the audience's wildly enthusiastic reaction it was clearly going to take a bit longer than that.

She's never been applauded before. Not like this anyway.

Sure, there had been her triumphs after Maranda, and Anacreon, and all the military parades she had been forced to participate in... but this was different.

Those parades were for battles that occurred thousands of miles away from the people on the street.

The people of Vector cheered for her because she was the victor and crowds love the victor. They hadn't seen what she had done to secure her victories.

They cheered _because_ they hadn't seen what had to be done to secure that victory.

But these cheers tonight... they really _were_ for her.

And Siren too.

Celes shut her eyes as she thought of the esper she had hidden in her dress. _ 'Thanks, Siren.'_

Again, the esper laughed in a way that made Celes' breath hitch. _ 'I only provided the light-show. I didn't really do anything. Not to your voice at least. That was all you.'_

Celes stood there, dumbfounded.

Eventually, the chancellor finally arrived looking surprisingly out of sorts. "Prince Ralse is looking for dance partner. Please leave the past behind! Our kingdom is part of the East now..."

Still in a daze, she wordlessly followed him offstage as the magical scenery faded completely. She began to wonder if the everyone had seen what she had. That would certainly explain the wide-eyed stares she was getting from the cast members waiting in the wings.

The moment she stepped over the threshold, Giovanni, the giant man playing the part of Ralse, wrapped her up in a hug. "Oh, you were wonderful! Wonderful!"

All the attention was really too much and Celes' cheeks burned hotly with embarrassment. Diego was there too, being handed the sword he would need for the following scene. "Well done, Celes," he said with a smile that was actually unforced for a change. "It was a pleasure to dance with you."

She grunted her thanks. Well, at least no one was saying anything about Draco looking like Terra, so she supposed Siren hadn't messed that part up. She leaned against the wall in relief for a moment before the frustrated looking stage manager grabbed her and practically shoved her back out onto the stage. It was time for the waltz scene.

...

Terra led the way to the catwalk above. The impresario probably would've had a hard time believing their story about a giant octopus showing up to disrupt his opera in order to get revenge on the people who had nearly killed him on a river several thousand miles away, so they left that part out when they finally caught up to him. Besides, his heart might not have been able to take it.

With all the people milling about behind the stage, it seemed that, creature of the sea or not, Ultros would most likely make his way in from the ceiling.

They really needed to get rid of him, and fast before Setzer showed up.

Even with Locke, Sabin and Cyan by her side, it took ages for them to fight their way through the giant mutated rats that clogged the way up here. Terra had been to the roof and the catwalks several times in the past few days and couldn't remember seeing anything like these creatures before.

And there he was, Ultros himself, somehow balancing his huge body on the creaking metal beams and trying to push what looked to be an enormous weight of some kind over the edge and onto the stage below.

If the situation hadn't been so serious, Terra would've laughed.

The octopus hadn't noticed their approach, but with the way the metal catwalks were arranged it was going to take quite a leap to get over to him without attracting his attention. Locke took out his boomerang.

With an exasperated sigh, Terra slapped him on the back just lightly enough to keep him from losing his balance.

"_What_?" he mouthed.

Terra gestured toward the stage below where Celes was busy dancing with Ralse, not to mention the ten or twelve other dancing couples. If that weapon had fallen down there -

The thief swallowed and smiled sheepishly back at her.

The next thing Terra saw was Sabin leaping the gap to Ultros in a single bound. _That_ got the giant octopus' attention.

He bellowed loud enough to drown out the orchestra, "Oh, rats!"

As the giant octopus fell, he reached out with his tentacles, grabbed Sabin, Locke and Cyan and took them with him to the stage below.

...

Even when compared to her singing experience - which had been very limited - Celes had no idea whatsoever about how to dance or act on stage when she began practicing for this role. Still, she picked up on the basics fairly quickly. Ballroom dancing wasn't anywhere near as difficult as piloting a magitek tank, or coordinating an assault on an enemy fortress.

As for the acting? Well, all that was required in this scene for instance was for her to look stony and disinterested in Ralse's company. If there was one look she could pull off -

So, again she danced. It was much trickier with Giovanni than it had been with Terra/Draco. Prince Ralse was about a foot taller than she was, for starters.

Well, at least his hands weren't sweaty. Plus, he was happily married and never once hit on her the entire week.

Before long, the war trumpets sounded. A guard ran on stage shouting, "Soldiers from the West attack!"

_'I can do this,'_ Celes kept telling herself as the male and female dancers fled the stage and well-choreographed fights broke out amongst Ralse's guards and the attacking soldiers.

Finally, the hero himself appeared and cried out, "Maria!"

"Oh, Draco!" Celes sang, the words coming out wonderfully warm and strong, "I knew you would come for me, my love!"

Ralse's face was splotched red with rage. "Insolent rogue! Knave of the Western horde! You would address my queen to be, Maria?"

"Never shall you have Maria's hand! I would die before that day comes!"

"Then we duel!"

This was the part of the opera Celes had been dreading since the aria ended; not because it was the act one finale and she could expect to be kidnapped by Setzer at any moment, but rather because she had to stand there at the back of the stage and pretend to look horrified as Draco and Ralse fought each other for her hand.

Out of all the bits of acting she was required to do, this was the part that she and the director had the most trouble with: Celes couldn't act afraid to save her life.

* * *

><p><em>"All right, all right..." the director said, waving his hands and halting the music for what was probably the twentieth time in the last half-hour. "You need inspiration, I think. If this scene is going to work, we need to come up with something you're actually afraid of."<em>

_Celes slumped against the wall. Practicing for an opera was more exhausting than basic-training. "Public speaking?" she suggested weakly._

_"Very funny. But if you were afraid of that, you wouldn't even be here."_

_"True."_

_The poor, middle-aged man sighed deeply. Celes wasn't exactly being cooperative. "All right. Imagine someone you care about in the place of Draco."_

_She tried, really, but there were only two people left in the world that she really cared for: Cid and Terra. Cid kept a one-of-a-kind magitek pistol on him at all times. She never brought the subject up, but Celes knew that he was always prepared with an escape plan. As the chief genetic engineer of the Empire, Cid was a prime target for assassination, not to mention people were known to disappear if they failed to please the emperor._

_No, Cid would outsmart Ralse._

_As for Terra? Well, she could simply stare up at the King of the East with those big, blue eyes of hers and a pout on her lips, and she'd likely get anything she wanted out of him._

_Alternatively, Ralse had better hope his robes were flame resistant. _

_"All of my friends would wipe the floor with Ralse," Celes said confidently._

_The director sighed even more loudly. "Fine. Fine. They don't pay me enough for this." Without another word, he swept a scabbarded sword off the table and tossed it to her. "Take this and find Giovanni and Diego. They need help with the fighting scenes. Besides, I don't trust myself with a sword lying about. At this rate, I might impale myself on it."_

* * *

><p>The memory brought a smile to her face which she quickly stamped down.<p>

Ralse and Draco were dueling over the music and the way they handled their weapons was certainly very convincing. Celes was proud of the personal hand she had in that. It took a great deal of time to teach both men the ropes, but if there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was shoddy swordsmanship.

Yes, everything was going well. If she had been in the seats for this performance, Celes would've felt that she had gotten her money's worth so far.

As she stood far to the back of the stage, she unexpectedly heard someone cry out from above, "Oh, rats!"

Celes glanced up and couldn't believe what she saw up there. _'Well, shit.'_

...

When Celes came to, she found herself face to face with an enormous purple octopus that would've dwarfed any living person. Instinctively, she staggered backwards on her hands and feet, just missing being hit by one of its flailing tentacles. "What the hell is that thing?!"

"Oh, that's Ultros," Locke said, half-whispering for some reason. "We've met before."

Celes got to her feet - what the hell was Locke even _doing_ out here, on stage in the middle of the opera? - but the thief raised a hand to stop her from getting any closer.

"Just stay in character," he ordered, his voice still hushed. "_We'll _take care of this."

"I _am_ in character," Celes hissed. "Give me my sword!"

The thief shrugged. "Sorry, I think Terra still has it." He didn't look the least bit sorry.

She gave him a withering glare, or at least, it would've been withering if he hadn't dashed off with a sword of his own in hand. "Never fear!" Locke shouted, in what Celes hoped wasn't truly his most commanding voice, "I, Locke, the world's premier adventurer, will save her!"

Whistles and hoots came from the crowd and the poor impresario, now out on the stage himself, held his face in his hands, "Oh, what awful acting."

"Silence!" came another, much more powerful voice.

In shock, Celes realized it was the _octopus_ who had spoken. _ 'The bloody thing talks too?!' _

"Ha! Peons!" the creature shouted as it reared itself up on its eight tentacles. "You are in the presence of octopus royalty! A lowborn thug like you could never defeat me!"

Locke seemed genuinely insulted. Cyan already had his katana out and Sabin was smacking his fists together, looking particularly eager to take on the creature. Meanwhile, Celes wondered if she had hit her head too hard...

The maestro took in the mess that had been made of his opera and sighed, "Oh well, might as well make the most of this... _Music_!"

What followed was something that the battle-hardened woman had certainly never expected to see in her life. Enormous purple tentacles flailed in every direction as her three Returner allies hacked at them with their swords, all to the fast-paced music of the orchestra.

The octopus let loose a torrent of insults as he tried in vain to snap up one of the three men, but Locke and Sabin were too nimble for him, and Cyan with his sword was much too dangerous to approach.

Resigned to sitting this one out, Celes helped drag the still unconscious Ralse and Diego further out of harm's way. She didn't get too far when a tentacle wrapped itself around her leg and jerked her to the floor.

"Eeek!"

"That's the spirit, Celes," Locke called out. "Stay in character!"

She stabbed the tentacle with the heel of her shoe, eliciting a yelp from the giant purple octopus. _ 'I'm going to _strangle _that man when I get out of here...'_

At least the audience appeared to be entertained.

Then there was a loud crack of thunder. Lightning flew out of Sabin's hands and he looked just as shocked about it as everyone else. He slapped the pocket where he kept his own magicite stone and it was glowing brightly now. _'Ramuh was right,'_ Celes realized. The espers truly were granting them their powers.

With an almost manic smile, Sabin summoned his new-found magic again. In his excitement, the bolts missed everything but one of the trombone players in the orchestra pit who promptly fell to the floor with a mighty crash. Still, the band played on.

"Don't overdo it, sir!" Cyan shouted.

Celes stepped further back, uselessly grinding her teeth, forgetting all pretense of acting. Thankfully, the chances that anyone in the audience had their eyes on her instead of the giant octopus, the nimble thief, the lightning wielding body-builder and the mustachioed Doman knight were pretty much zero.

And as if to add to the bizarre scene, fire began raining down from above. Celes looked up only to find herself dazzled by the stage lights. It had to be Terra up there, lending a hand without giving herself away to the audience, and to Setzer, but holy hell, since when had she learned to command such powerful magic? She'd burn down the house at this rate.

"_YEEEEEEOOOWWWCH_!" Ultros' blood curdling yell was echoed by screams of fear from the audience, and quickly - amazingly quickly given his size - he tore off down the right wing of the stage, his burning tentacles flailing in all directions. The Returners looked on in disbelief as he disappeared from view, leaving a mess of broken scenery and terrified looking stage-hands behind him. "Out of my way!" the octopus shouted, "Hot stuff coming through!"

"Well," Celes muttered. "That was different."

However, there was no time to gather themselves.

With the aid of a cable, a white-haired man in a long, black jacket dropped gracefully to the stage. "Hold it right there!" he shouted. "My compliments on a most impressive performance!"

The impresario gasped. "Setzer!"

"I'm a man of my word, maestro. I'm taking Maria!"

Before Celes could react, she was blinded by a flash of light. Then everything went black.

...

In all the commotion, Terra almost missed the sight of Setzer riding one of the ropes to the roof with an unconscious Celes slung over his shoulder.

Unbelievably, the impresario actually went with it. "Unforeseen twists at every turn!" he cried out to the now cheering audience. "Just as we think Maria is to become Locke's new bride, she's dragged off by Setzer instead! What fate lies in store for her now? Be sure to come back and see Part Two!"

She shook her head but waited until Setzer disappeared through the open hatch before flying up after him. A chorus of disbelieving gasps came from the stage. _'Well,' _she thought, _'my secret is out now...'_ or, at least, it sort of was.

Once on the roof she finally saw it: Setzer's airship. She'd seen them before of course, even ridden on one once or twice, but never did one look like this. It must be the size of a small town! Setzer was riding a cable up to the gondola suspended beneath the huge cigar-shaped envelope that held the gasses keeping the ship airborne about a thousand feet above the city. Terra leapt after him, but the engines were already roaring and she was buffeted backwards into the the trees by the exhaust.

By the time she freed herself of the leaves and branches, the craft was already almost out of sight. And such was the speed of that machine that, even flying as fast as she could, it took ages before Terra finally began to catch it. With the strain, she could feel the power draining from her body. It was inevitable; eventually she would have to return to her human form, but why did it have to be _now_?

Determined, she closed quickly on the giant machine, the windows circling the gondola growing larger and larger.

With the last ounce of her strength, she pitched upwards just as the skin on her outstretched hands returned to its normal pale coloration.

Shielding her eyes with her forearm, she braced herself.

...

Celes allowed herself to be dragged into an unfamiliar room. The grogginess was fading but still there. Fortunately, her strength and magical abilities returned with every step Setzer took. She could freeze him alive right now, but it would be better to wait to see if Terra could find her first. The thrumming of motors indicated she was on-board Setzer's airship. If she froze him, she'd have a hell of a time landing this contraption by herself. She had no useful experience when it came to piloting flying machines.

"Don't worry," she heard him say as he dropped her unceremoniously to the floor in what looked like a bedroom. "I'll give you plenty of attention later." Then the door slammed shut and locked behind him.

Celes grumbled as she pushed herself up, her hair and dress in disarray. Even in her tired state, if he _were_ stupid enough to try something he'd find his private parts in a block of ice before he knew what hit him. That'd kill the mood real fast.

She was growing to like this plan less and less. How was she supposed to secure the aid of the kind of man who kidnaps women? Violence immediately seemed like the best answer, but no, she made a promise to at least try to negotiate with her kidnapper before freezing him into a block of ice and using him as an anchor.

The room she found herself in was large and nicely furnished. No airship she had ever been on had staterooms this large, not even the Imperial flagship.

She wondered how many women found themselves here before her.

Unconsciously, she milled about, looking for anything interesting or useful. There was an open hatch leading down into an engine compartment of some kind. That would certainly explain the noise.

Beyond the hatch were a great many windows. In the distance, the lights of a city could be seen. Celes ran a finger along the glass. She could break this, but that wouldn't do her much good if she couldn't fly.

She let out a long sigh. Her current position was most irritating. If things went poorly, she would have little problem dealing with Setzer even if he had a wall-ring, but the situation would be different if he had a wall-ring and a _gun_.

There was a dark spot blocking out the distant city lights. Celes leaned further forward and blinked. "What the hell is -"

An instant later, the window exploded into a thousand shards of glass.

* * *

><p>When Celes finally awoke, she found herself sprawled out on the floor with an unconscious Terra lying on top of her, the girl's face buried in her bosom and her arms and legs covered in shallow cuts and broken glass.<p>

She allowed herself a moment to just lie there on the floor. Not a sound could be heard except a faint howl of wind. Soft breaths tickled her skin as her friend lightly breathed in and out.

It had been a very, very long day...

Tiredly, she placed her hands on Terra's back and magically healed her friend's superficial wounds. The act was so draining she nearly fainted again.

With a thump, her head dropped to the hard, tiled floor. Terra remained on top of her, like a human shield. She always seemed to be putting herself in harm's way for Celes' sake. It was an endearing quirk of her's.

"Oh, my hero," she said aloud, before chuckling softly to herself.

When she finally remembered where she was, Celes found the energy to lift herself up. Slivers of freed glass fell to the floor as she gently carried Terra over to the overstuffed sofa in the middle of the room. "We keep meeting like this," she said with a trace of humor as she laid her friend down carefully. Despite the unfortunate gashes in her dress, Terra looked perfectly at peace.

Without thinking about it, she brushed strands of silky green hair out of the girl's eyes. Celes recalled Siren's appearance and just how closely she resembled Terra in her current human form.

Siren the esper was dangerous, and maybe Terra was too, but it was certainly hard to picture that danger now. It struck her just how attracted she still was to the woman even though Terra must be even more exhausted and drained than Celes was at that moment. There was no magical lure there like she had originally suspected. No... magically charged or not, Celes was attracted to Terra.

Terra made her feel things that were best kept to herself. How could there be time for romance when the world was falling apart around them?

How could Terra love someone who didn't do a damn thing to save her from Kefka's twisted experiments?

She sighed. She needed to get a grip on herself.

An almost imperceptible magical pulse brought Celes out of her thoughts. Siren was still there in the pouch she had sewn into her dress but the esper was too weak to be heard now. She smiled. She hadn't forgotten the unexpected display the esper had put on during the opera, or the way the creature had not very subtly replaced Draco with Terra. She'd had enough of espers getting involved in her non-existent love life. "You and I are going to have a talk later."

Blue eyes fluttered open. "Celes?"

Relieved, the general moved to sit on the arm of the couch by Terra's feet. "How are you feeling?"

Terra sat up too quickly and immediately regretted it. She put her head in her hands in her struggle to get the world to stop spinning.

"Whoa, there... Take it easy. You just flew through a glass window, you know?"

Terra looked up at the sound of her friend's voice. Her eyes slowly focused to reveal red splotches marring Celes' beautiful, white dress. "You're bleeding!"

Celes frowned and glanced down at her ruined costume. This fantasy of being someone else for a night was most definitely over. "That's your blood, actually," she said quietly.

"Oh."

The door opened and Setzer strode confidently in. In this light he looked a little bit like Locke, with his white hair and pale skin, but Setzer's hair was substantially longer and he wore an expensive looking dark coat that was not unlike something an Imperial air marshal might wear.

He was smiling and strutting as he entered the room, but stopped short when he saw Terra struggling to her feet from behind the couch. The tatters that remained of her dress did little to cover her now.

The man stammered, his eyes wide, "I – uh... Well -"

Celes snorted. Men were all the same. "Terra, meet Setzer. Setzer, this is Terra." The half-naked girl waved bashfully as she struggled to cover herself more completely with her free hand.

Setzer coughed. "Er... Nice to meet you," he said as he briefly turned away for modesty's sake. When he glanced at Celes again it was probably the first time he had gotten a good look at her. His face went red with rage. "W- Wait a minute," he stammered, "you're not Maria! Who the hell _are_ you people?!"

Celes put on her most non-threatening voice, but she didn't get it quite right, "Setzer, we need your help. We have to get to the Empire and this ship is the only-"

Setzer silenced her with a raised hand. "If you're not Maria, then we have nothing to talk about."

"Please," Terra said. "Listen to her."

The man shook his head and paced for a moment before he stopped and rubbed his temple like he was fighting off a migraine. "So, who are you two, _really_?"

"My name is Celes Chère. I was a-"

A light of recognition touched Setzer's eyes. "General of the Empire," he finished for her, a touch of awe in his voice. Intrigued, he took a few steps closer. "That statue in Anacreon hardly does you justice, you know? You're the spitting image of Maria."

A touch of pink tinged Celes' cheeks as Setzer looked her over for a long moment. Then he turned his attention to his other unexpected guest, "And you are?"

"Terra."

"And what exactly happened to Maria?"

"Change of plans," Celes answered for her.

Setzer grunted. "Come with me," he said, drawing her over to the shattered window which now overlooked some high mountain range that Celes didn't recognize. The howling of the wind was still the only sound to be heard. They were adrift, several thousand feet above the ground.

"Then you'll -"

"Don't misunderstand me," he interrupted. "I haven't said I'll help you."

She knew they had only been talking for a minute, but Celes was already growing frustrated. "Then you're just going to just let the Empire take whatever they want?"

"The Empire's done me no wrong."

"It doesn't matter! They'll end up owning you eventually. When they take the rest of the world, do you really think Gestahl will just let you keep this ship of yours?"

Setzer frowned. She wondered if he had perhaps considered that possibility before. It seemed likely that this flying ship was his most prized possession. No one else in the world could boast to having one of the very own. "Say I agree to help you... what exactly do you expect to accomplish?"

Silently, Terra listened as her friend explained their rather vague plan. Trusting Setzer Gabbiani was a risk, but then they were planning on breaking into the Empire's magitek research facility located in the very center of Imperial power. How much more difficult could things get if this gambler person learned about it?

Setzer's voice was growing in volume, "Wait. Fly to _Vector_? I may be a gambler, but I'm not suicidal."

Celes' own irritation was beginning to chill the room quite literally. Anger seemed to grant her a second wind. "I'm not asking you to land on top of the Senate building. You'll land someplace out of the way and wait for us to return."

Setzer threw up his hands. "Oh, _brilliant_. It's not like an enormous black and gold airship is going to stick out or anything."

"Who paints an airship black anyway? Are you _trying_ to get shot out of the sky?!"

_'Hmm,'_ Terra thought. _ 'Things are not going well.' _Celes and Setzer were just standing there, glaring at each other. Maybe they should've dressed up Locke as Maria. He was a much better negotiator.

The gambler eventually broke the silence but he was grinning suspiciously now and what came out of his mouth next was completely unexpected, "You know, I think you may be even more stunning than Maria."

Terra watched as several different emotions quickly played across her friend's face: embarrassment, shock, and finally rage. _'Uh, oh.' _Locke would _really_ want her to say something before Celes blew her top.

"All right," Setzer continued. "I'll agree to help if Celes agrees to be my wife."

Terra tensed but the reaction she expected never came.

Celes only had her arms crossed, her expression stony. "Do you really wish to be married to someone who's strong enough to throw you out a window?"

"I don't know," he said, looking her over more closely, eyes moving from Celes' toned arms, to her piercing blue eyes before finally lingering far too long on her cleavage. "It might be worth it."

Celes' eyes were like slits. Her first impulse was to actually agree for the time being - well, her _first _impulse was to shove him out this open window - but her next impulse was to go along with the charade until they got to Imperial lands, _then_ throw him out the window.

Fortunately, an idea struck her. To Setzer's shock, and Terra's horror, she lifted up the hem of her dress to access the small pocket she'd had sewn near her waist. She felt Siren's magicite stone and then found what she was looking for.

"Tell you what, Mr. Gambler," she said as she held up Sabin's gold sovereign. "I'll flip this coin. If it's heads, you help us. If it's tails, I'm yours."

Setzer's eyes lit up. Celes had clearly hit her mark. "Ha! I love it! I accept."

Terra couldn't contain herself this time. "_What_?!" she blurted out, attracting everyone's attention. They were supposed to go to Vector together! And how could Celes just marry some guy she had never met? This wasn't like her at all.

The woman silenced her with a surreptitious wink.

Celes paused for a moment, pretending for Setzer's benefit that she was already regretting her decision. Then she flipped the coin high in the air and it landed at Setzer's feet. He looked nonplussed at the sight of the head of a young Edgar Figaro smiling back at him.

"Heads," the general chirped. "I win. Now it's time for you to uphold your end of the bargain."

Setzer scooped up the coin. "A valuable trinket indeed," he said as he held it up to the light. "I've never seen a double-headed coin before."

Celes barely held back a laugh at Terra's surprised expression. "You've been hustled, Mr. Gambler."

He laughed out loud. "How low can you get? I love it! All right, I'll help you."

Terra was stunned, "Y-you'll help us?"

"Certainly! I haven't felt so excited in years! My life is a chip in your pile. Ante up!"

The green-haired girl's brow furrowed in confusion; she had no idea what 'ante up' was supposed to mean, but at least Setzer seemed like a completely different person now. He and Celes spoke briefly about their plan. The first step was to head back to Jidoor to pick up their friends.

"So, _Celes_. What was the deal with the giant octopus anyway? I don't remember _that_ from the opera."

Briefly, Celes considered explaining it, but she still hardly understood it herself. "Oh you know how these modern productions are."

"Hmmph. Maybe I should kidnap the impresario next time. Do the opera world a favor?"

Celes smirked. "That's not a bad idea. He looks like he could use a vacation."

Terra marveled at how Celes went from being completely ill at ease, to sharing a joke with the man who had just an hour ago tried to kidnap her and marry her against her will.

"What about you?" Celes asked. "Did you really expect Maria to agree to marry you?"

The gambler shrugged. "I was hoping to dazzle her with my enormous wealth, impeccable sense of style, and, of course -" he tapped the wooden wall, "- my own personal airship. Come on. Be honest, you're both impressed, right?"

Celes stood there with her arms crossed while Terra's head was tilted as if she didn't quite understand the question.

Setzer stalked off, muttering something under his breath. "Come on, I'll show you the bridge."

"Not without some new clothes for my friend first," Celes insisted.

"Ah, quite right. Take whatever you want from the closet," he said to Terra. "However, everything I have would more likely fit _her_, I'm afraid."

The knight grunted as Setzer continued, "When you're done, just follow the hallway along and take the second door to the left, climb the stairs and you'll find me. Take your time though. One of the engines just blew... it'll probably take a few hours to get back to Jidoor at this rate. Last time I trust a company based in Zozo," he muttered as the door shut behind them.

Left with just each other again, Celes searched the closet while Terra wandered curiously around the room. Unfortunately, the closet turned out to be filled mostly with elaborate dresses like the one Celes was already wearing. There was nothing here that suited her.

With a look of disgust she pulled out a green leotard. What was this doing in here?

Eventually, she was resigned to waiting until they landed to change out of her costume. She couldn't wait to be back in something marginally more comfortable.

It took some time, but Terra eventually settled for a simple red dress, not too unlike the one she wore back in Narshe. Celes made a mental note to find her some half-decent shoes someplace. All the ones in the closet were much too big for Terra's feet.

"Thanks," Celes said into the gathering silence.

Terra was observing herself in the mirror, adjusting her dress and trying to get used to looking human again. "Huh?"

"For rescuing me."

"Oh, uh... you're welcome?" Terra replied softly.

"I mean it."

She found herself at a loss for words. Of course she would chase after Celes, why wouldn't she? It seemed like a good time to change the subject slightly, "Would you really have married him?"

"Who,_ Setzer_?" Celes let out a sharp laugh. "Wait, you thought I was serious?"

Terra shook her head. Yes, she _had_ thought Celes had been serious, but she wasn't going to admit that now. "Do you trust him?"

"Only as far as I can throw him."

_'That would be pretty far, actually,' _Terra thought, but she kept her mouth firmly shut.

Celes' blue eyes sparkled. "I know what you're thinking," she said, motioning for Terra to follow her to the door, "I promise I won't throw him off the ship before we reach Vector."

Terra smiled back.

"Unless," she added, "I catch him staring at my breasts again."

"Oh." It seemed that Setzer was unlikely to make it to Vector then.

* * *

><p>Next Chapter: Vector and the Magitek Factory.<p>

* * *

><p>AN – For those few of you who are reading this and aren't familiar with the plot of Final Fantasy VI, Ultros is an actual boss character from the game and not some bizarre figment of the author's imagination. Terra, Sabin, Edgar and Banon first encounter him on the Lyte River just before Locke rescues Celes in South Figaro, or in the timeline of my story, just before the start of the first chapter.<p>

To be honest, I had originally planned to kill him off here, but then I read_ 'How Ultros Got His Groove Back' _by stealth-noodle and it showed me that Ultros and Mr. Chupon are destined for each other. So, now I feel obligated to keep him around so that he can have his chance at happiness.

One last thing: Locke isn't quite as close to Celes in my story as he is in canon, primarily because he never rescued her (Terra did that... remember, like over a year ago when I started writing this?). He's still falling for her though. Remember how Siren's appearance depends on what the viewer sees as the ideal human? Well, back in the dressing room, when Locke saw Siren he pictured a woman that reminded him both of Celes and Rachel.


	12. No Place for Joy or Pleasure

"Celes Ascending" by Imrryr

Chapter 12: "No Place for Joy or Pleasure"

...

"Hope whispers softly in my ears!  
>We shall be free, we shall find peace."<p>

- The Prisoners' Chorus, from Beethoven's _'Fidelio'_

...

Early evening onboard the _'Blackjack'_ as it flies over the sea.

...

"I look stupid."

Celes stood behind her, watching with barely suppressed amusement as Terra pouted, arms crossed, at her reflection in the mirror. "It's only temporary," she chided as she continued to brush the woman's hair. Inwardly, she was exhausted. She had already reassured Terra on this particular subject about a dozen times today.

It had taken hours – and more than a few muttered curses - but she had somehow succeeded in bleaching her friend's formerly forest-green hair to a golden blonde. Celes would never exactly _complain_ about being so close to Terra, and the woman's hair was easily the softest thing she had ever touched, but honestly, it would've been easier trying to bleach the fur of a cave bear.

Terra grumbled and pouted, and throughout the entire ordeal her eyes would keep darting towards the door like a trapped animal. It was only by keeping a subtle, yet firm, hand on the woman's shoulder that Celes was able to keep her planted in the chair. Perhaps the girl's esper nature was rebelling against the unnaturalness of hair-coloring agents? Celes didn't know, but it was as good a theory as any.

"I still look stupid."

Celes chuckled and shook her head as she took a step back, finally releasing Terra from her horrible ordeal. Looking in the mirror it was striking just how much her own hair had grown over the past month and a half. Perhaps she would cut it before asking Terra to dye it. She glanced at the still pouting woman in front of her, her arms now crossed tightly across her chest like a petulant child. Perhaps she would get _someone else _to dye it.

Silently, Celes brushed the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. Whenever Terra got upset, her immediate surroundings would get noticeably warmer, which was why the flowers Setzer for some reason went to the trouble of keeping in this large dressing room were now lying brown and wilted in their vases. Indeed, there were times in the past hour when Celes worried that the entire room might spontaneously combust.

If only the Siren could work some of the same illusiory magic she had performed during Celes' debut at opera house, but unfortunately it wasn't a risk they could afford to take. In fact, now that Locke, Sabin and Cyan all possessed magical abilities, they would almost certainly have to dampen everyone's abilities for at least as long as it took to break into the Research Facility. Magitek knights were well-trained in seeking out sources of magic. With sufficient concentration and awareness, it was possible for a magically infused knight to sense another knight from fifty yards away, if not further.

There were going to be a lot of knights in Vector.

It was all very unfortunate to say the least. Celes had taken one of those magic-dampening potions years ago during her training. For several hours afterwards she just felt _empty_ inside, like the most important part of her was missing.

If ever anyone wanted to really torture a magitek knight... those potions were a good place to start.

So, they would be handicapped in that respect, not to mention the fact that even getting to the Empire's Magitek Research Facility itself was going to be no small feat. Celes still had no idea how they would actually manage it, but the first hurdle would just be getting to the front doors. In actuality, the district of Vector they would need to pass through was a rough, lawless sort of place where tough looking folks bristling with weapons and sporting wild green hair wouldn't exactly look out of place, but Terra was easily the most sought after person in the entire world.

So, _no,_ as Celes had explained time and time again over the past few hours, her friend would definitely need a disguise.

Preferably, a _good_ disguise.

Although, if Locke was telling the truth about Terra's performance at the opera, maybe the girl actually _could_ pull off the whole street-tough look if she tried.

And if she had any money left, Celes would've gladly spent her last sovereign to see that.

In the end though, Terra was lucky; the average Imperial citizen would have no idea what she looked like, so with her unusual hair color hidden, the girl could pass through Imperial lands without being recognized. Celes on the other hand had her face plastered all over Empire; on statues, paintings, and not a few recruiting posters.

Tiredly, she stripped off her gloves and stretched out her hands. Dying Terra's hair darker would've been so much easier, but they were in a hurry and had to go with what Setzer happened to have on board; and judging by the sheer quantity of bleaching products she'd found on the _'Blackjack', _the gambler truly must've had a thing for blondes.

Considering what he had planned to do to Maria, Setzer was lucky women didn't run at the sight of him, Celes groused. As far as she was concerned, this was definitely an alliance of convenience. She still half-expected Setzer to leave them stranded if the situation went south.

Although, really, with the possible exception of Sabin, every man on this ship was on thin ice with her at best.

Being the only other woman onboard, they had just naturally _expected_ Celes to know the most about the act of dying another person's hair. Because, of course, the Empire trains its magitek knights as hairdressers to keep them busy when the campaigning season ends.

Ugh. Sometimes she really hated men.

From the other side of the large dressing room, a familiar series of tones interrupted the light orchestral music that had been coming from the large radio. Terra regarded her curiously as Celes held up a finger for quiet. It was the IBN, the Imperial Broadcasting Network. "This is Vector calling," a male voice announced over the static. "The Imperial Navy has reported the sinking of three enemy ships off the coast of the Commissariat of Figaro, including the HMS Svegliato."

The name sounded vaguely familiar; it was likely a Figaran ship. Aside from Edgar's desert kingdom, only the larger of the Western Kingdoms and Nikeah had any navies to speak of, and all were technically still at peace with the Empire.

Though, at this rate who knew how long _that_ would last.

Just a few nights ago, Celes had listened with growing irritation to a broadcast from the Foreign Office of yet another promise by Gestahl that the Western Kingdoms had nothing to fear from the Empire. He had once made those same promises to Tzen, and Albrook, _and _Maranda.

"Also, today the Ministry of Public Health has announced a decrease in the chocolate ration to twenty grams per week."

Celes frowned as the announcer continued rattling off the day's events: a military airship that collided into a row of homes outside of Tzen's airport, reports from the advancing front south of the Sabre Mountains, and five men and women who were hanged for treason in a suburb of Anacreon.

It had been a month and a half, but there was still no mention of a renegade general, or a missing magitek witch for that matter. She'd been listening for Imperial broadcasts ever since she defected, but with nary a peep about either herself or Terra. Doubtless the Empire had little faith in the average citizen's ability to apprehend them, but still, she expected to hear _something_.

There was a rogue magitek knight out there. Why waste a golden opportunity to scare the general population?

Then she was blinded by what had to be world's largest flash bulb and staggered back until her hand brushed the wall. When she could finally see again, there was Locke Cole standing by the open door, camera in hand.

"What the hell was that for?"

"Your passports."

Celes shook her head. "You're just going to have to take that again. I haven't even dyed my hair yet."

"Oh," the thief said sheepishly, "right." Locke took a surprised step back when he realized that Terra was in the room with them. He gasped. "Uh, wow. You look... uh... different, Terra."

Terra blushed ever so slightly under his gaze, but Locke looked even more uncomfortable and he tugged at the neck of his shirt. Did he have a thing for blondes too, Celes wondered?

"Where did you get that thing anyway?" she asked.

"I borrowed it from Edgar before we left."

She must've not looked entirely convinced because Locked continued, "Like I said, for passports. You never know when they might come in handy." He dug a grey booklet out of his coat pocket and tossed it to her. Printed on the cover of the hand-sized booklet was the golden seal of the Empire. Flipping through the pages, Celes had to admit that they were perfect forgeries, everything from the texture of the paper down to the fake visa stamps. "I'm impressed," she said as she handed it back.

Locke seemed visibly buoyed by the compliment. "I can forge documents for every nation in the world," he said proudly, "but if we pretend to be Imperials it will attract less suspicion."

Celes agreed. She was glad they had someone coming along who understood these things.

"I repeat," announced the same deep voice as before, "The Imperial Navy has reported the sinking of three enemy ships off the coast of the Commissariat of Figaro, including the HMS Svegliato."

Locked smirked.

"What?"

"Well, that's Figaro's only airship carrier and it's just that, according to the Imperials, that particular ship has been sunk three times since the war started."

Celes leaned tiredly against the large glass window that ran from floor to ceiling in this room. She supposed it wasn't likely that any espers would come flying it through this time. "Have you had any word from Edgar?"

"Indeed, I did," he said, flopping down heavily onto the couch. "If nothing else, at least you won't have to worry about the Empire expecting _you_ to turn up in Vector."

"What do you mean?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"There's a female captain in the Narshean militia who's about your size. The Figarans just put a helmet on her and Edgar gave her a few lessons on how to act like you."

Celes' growing frown seemed to escape Locke's notice, "Keep your head held high, don't smile, freeze anything that comes within fifty feet of you. That sort of thing. Apparently, she's a dead ringer for you."

Just what she needed, _another_ woman who supposedly looked exactly like her. "And how is she supposed to pass herself off as me when she can't do magic?"

"Edgar said he would take care of that. Figaro's been working on machines that can emulate ice magic."

That was news to her. "You mean something like magitek?"

"Nope. It's all done entirely conventionally. Don't ask me how it works. Edgar could tell you, but the explanation would likely bore you to tears. It certainly does me."

Placated, Celes relaxed again. "With his reputation, it's a wonder he finds the time for all his machines."

"He is rather dedicated to them," Locke said with an easy smile. "Still, as far as the Empire knows, you're leading an army against South Figaro as we speak."

"Do they have a chance?"

Locke sighed. "Not really. The last I heard, the plan was to keep holding them off in the caverns northwest of the city. It should at least limit the effectiveness of the Empire's heavy weaponry."

Celes shook her head. A war of attrition wasn't much of a plan, and it was a war the Returners were certain to lose eventually. Time was most assuredly not on their side.

Also, Kefka knew that she had defected. So the more immediate question was, what did the Empire assume she would do next? Under more normal circumstances - though the life she had been leading for the past month could hardly be classified as normal - the first target would be South Figaro. The Returners were very short on manpower. Kicking the Empire off the continent would give them an important source of troops to draw from as well as finally show the world that Emperor Gesthal's forces were not invincible.

The boost to moral would be incalculable.

It was what Celes would do.

It's what _any_ commander would do.

It was obvious, so obvious in fact that even the Figarans had thought of it.

That was a comfort of sorts. The Empire should have little reason to expect their two most wanted criminals to waltz straight into Vector. And if they _were_ expecting it, well, they would probably be expecting stealth. Singing the lead in an opera followed by hijacking an airship and riding it to the Southern Continent certainly didn't meet anyone's definition of the word.

It was odd how comforting that leap of illogic was, but then she _was _very tired.

Chances are the people wouldn't be told about Celes' defection unless she was actually in Imperial custody. Then Kefka could make a real show of it. He always did revel in his public executions.

Terra was still staring at herself in the mirror. She had pushed herself close to the glass and kept tilting her head this way and that, seeming to inspect every strand.

Celes felt a pang of regret. Had there been any other way to disguise the woman, she would've taken it. Although, it was unlikely that Terra would've been happy with the results in either case.

"You don't like blonde hair?"

The pout remained. "I look stupid."

Celes took the hint and dropped that particular line of conversation. She joined Terra at the mirror as Locke lounged on the couch, reading a magazine. "Maybe I should cut my hair before I dye it." That would save time, plus it would make her less recognizable. Celes had long hair for as long as she could remember.

Terra finally broke eye-contact with her mirror image. "What? No!"

Celes raised an eyebrow.

"I mean... um, you shouldn't."

She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she regarded her reflection. "If it was shorter I might be able to pass for a man," she said.

Terra, already blushing from her outburst, blushed even harder at the image that conjured up in her mind.

Well, Celes thought, if the idea provoked such a negative reaction from her friend, she wouldn't do it. Dyeing her hair would probably be enough anyway. She'd just need to carry herself differently; behave in a manner less befitting a general and more a civilian. She could manage that.

Probably.

Over the next few minutes, Locke gave the two women all the information he could about the current state of the war. To put it shortly, things were not going that well. It was only thanks to Figaro's advantage of terrain and the fact that the Imperials had vastly over-extended their supply lines that Figaro and Narshe hadn't already been conquered.

They needed to act soon. Celes hoped that this venture in the heart of the Empire would pay off and pay off swiftly.

Finally, Locke made his excuses, something about talking to Setzer about how the heating on this deck was clearly malfunctioning, and left Celes and Terra alone together again.

Meanwhile, Terra, in her renewed wandering around the room, had reached the door the thief had left open.

"Wait. Terra!"

The half-esper looked at her with all the wide-eyed terror of a person being singled out for execution. "What?" she asked hesitantly.

Celes held up some cotton swabs. "We still need to do your eyebrows."

With superhuman speed, Terra bolted through the door.

* * *

><p>Later that evening...<p>

...

Celes slumped against the gunwale and let out a deep breath. The weather-deck of Setzer's airship was a nice place to reflect in silence, she found. It got uncomfortably cold up here at night, or at least uncomfortably cold for a normal person, which made it the perfect place to be alone. Thousands of feet below, city lights could be seen hugging the coastline; the Gulf of Arioch, if she wasn't mistaken. Last year she had trained troops in amphibious landings on those very same beaches.

Now she was coming home as a traitor and spy.

Celes tapped the rail in irritation.

Part of her still yearned for simpler times. Not that being an Imperial general was ever _simple_ exactly, but ordering troops into battle came to her so much more naturally than undercover spying missions, or slowly falling in love with your best friend for that matter.

She huffed, but that was soon followed by a prodigious yawn. It had been a long day.

The deck slowly canted to port as the ship changed direction. It was surreal just how lightly the wind blew through her hair up here despite the exposed nature of the deck and the way the _'Blackjack' _was still giving an admirable display of why she deserved the title of the fastest airship in all the world. The sun had set hours ago and Setzer had long since turned over the helm to one of the ship's crew. The old, bearded man stood by the ship's wheel with his charts, taking regular readings of the stars, but if he had any interest in contact with others, he hadn't once shown it.

After what felt like hours of deliberation it was eventually decided to land just outside the city of Albrook. Like every city on the southern continent it was occupied by the Empire, but with any luck they would alight under the cover of the thick, heavy fog that usually swamped the southern coast every morning at this time of year.

Then Setzer would take the ship over the eastern mountain ranges and wait for the all-clear.

It was a decent enough plan. Plenty would probably still go wrong tough.

She heard soft footsteps approaching her and wasn't at all surprised when Terra joined her at the rail, her hair _and_ eyebrows now unnaturally colored. The woman looked out over the clouds and the trail of stars in the sky and smiled at the sight. Celes found herself wanting to smile too; Terra's love for the natural world was infectious.

Sparing Celes a brief glance, Terra asked, "Has Artemis spoken to you recently?"

Celes shook her head. She hadn't heard a peep from her esper companion in days. The dreams continued unabated every night though and they were just as bizarre and disturbing as ever. There were so many exotic creatures and places in those dreams; flowing rivers of lightning, forests of glowing trees that hung from the roofs of caves, and always, the beautiful female esper that Artemis loved so dearly. Celes wouldn't be able to describe it all if she lived for a hundred years.

Sometimes she would try to describe what she saw to Terra, but not tonight, after last night's dream she'd need an hour just to get started. "What about you?" she asked with a trace of humor as she gestured to the horizon with her free hand, "Any desire to fly away?"

Terra cracked an embarrassed smile and shrugged, which earned a laugh from Celes. "No. I think I'm beginning to understand how to control it though."

"Really? Can you do it at will?"

Terra pursed her lips. "I'm not sure. When I get close to changing, _it burns_." The transforming made every sensation - sight, feeling, hearing - so much more intense. It was overwhelming and frightening and it wasn't something she was keen to experience ever again.

Celes stared back, her eyes betraying her sympathy. "There's no need to rush anything, Terra. Maybe one of the espers in the factory will be able to help?"

The young woman nodded. "Do you really think there are any still alive in there?"

Celes' eyes dropped back onto the starry horizon. "I hope so," she whispered. She didn't want to say anymore than that. The truth was, the Empire probably had many espers in that facility just waiting in stasis. Before she defected there had been no sign that magitek production was slowing down. If anything, it had been ramping up for the coming Northern Campaign.

"You said you've never been inside, right?" Terra asked.

Celes murmured in affirmation.

Terra's shoulders fell a little as she looked back out at the stars. She was afraid of what they would find in that horrible factory, a place where espers were treated worse than animals.

Wordlessly, Celes put a hand on the woman's shoulder and the worries receded... just a little.

* * *

><p>Two days later.<p>

...

Vector.

She had no clear memories of the city that now lay before her, a gloomy, sprawling metropolis that from afar resembled a twisted mass of concrete and metal, as if it were trying to mimic the destruction its people had wrought on half the world. Over it all, the enormous metal pyramid of the Imperial capitol stood silhouetted against the distant mountain range and a darkening sky beyond. It was a forbidding sight and constantly unnerved her whenever she caught a glimpse of it.

But as they passed from street to street, Terra would see things - a storefront, a sign, a uniform - which would earn a brief flash of recognition. However, these feelings faded just as quickly as they appeared.

Perhaps she had seen it all before, or perhaps she hadn't. From what little Celes had told her, combined with her own sketchy memory, Terra knew - vaguely - that she had only ever left the city under guard and with Kefka's slave crown upon her head. It robbed her of so many memories, but perhaps in some cases that was a good thing.

The sun was touching the mountains by the time she and her Returner friends passed through the southern gate. Thankfully, despite the heavily armed guards and enormous tanks, security in the Imperial capital wasn't quite as tight as it had been in Narshe, and they were rushed through the checkpoint with little more than a cursory look at their fake passports.

Still, it had been necessary for them to leave their weapons on the airship. Terra knew that Celes felt the loss of her runic blade keenly, but there was no way such a rare and ornate weapon wouldn't attract the attention of even the most slow-witted guardsman.

At least they had their magicite stones. Over the past few days, with the help of the spirits of Ramuh and his friends, Sabin had gained the power of lightning, Cyan fire, and Locke now commanded Kirin's healing powers. In fact, Sabin and Cyan had switched stones with each other just last night. Ramuh's magic would be a better match for the old Retainer, she thought. Most of the time he was quiet and focused, but when he fought it was with quick, efficient and deliberate movements; like a thunderbolt out of the blue.

It worried her though. She could tell that the man was keeping much to himself. Perhaps stoicism was a trait all Domans shared? Terra didn't know, might never know; there were so few Domans left now.

Even after taking the dampening potion, she could still sense the power emanating from her companions as they walked together as long as she kept close enough. It was similar to the feeling she would get when encountering a magical beast - like the ones inhabiting the grasslands outside Albrook - just a vague sense of magical power; the tickling of static electricity, the crackling of fire, and the soothing hum of curative magic. However, Celes felt different than that.

There was power there certainly – ice... pure and clear and cold, but immensely powerful in its own way - but it also felt stronger, less contained somehow. Maybe that was Artemis, or - she glanced at the expressionless woman walking confidently beside her, her head held high - maybe it wasn't?

The former general and the retainer of Doma had gotten into another shouting match just before they landed yesterday. Flare ups between those two would only get more dangerous the longer they were in close proximity and the more spells they had at their command. At least Celes' runic blade would grant her a little bit of protection should Cyan turn his magic on her.

At least today had been quiet, and Cyan kept mostly in the company of Sabin and the two of them were walking in the lead of their little group.

Admittedly, Terra wasn't paying much attention to either of them. Instead, she would find her eyes drifting to her friend. The woman's new black hair made her fair skin seem even paler by comparison.

Walking around in full armor would've also attracted attention, so Celes and Cyan left theirs behind on the ship. Now Celes was dressed in a black corset, tight yellow leather pants and yellow arm warmers that almost reached to her bare shoulders.

Terra wasn't sure what she thought of her friend's choice of clothes, but for some reason she couldn't seem to take her eyes off them. Her new outfit wasn't bulky like the opera dress had been, instead it was light, non-restrictive and hugged her body much more tightly than her chainmail and armor had done.

'_Especially that corset,'_ she thought. Celes looked really good it. She'd looked really good in that opera dress too, of course, but this was more like something she would actually _want_ to wear and the confident way Celes carried herself as she walked now only made Terra's eyes wander even more.

Then of course, there was the hair. The jet blackness of it served to emphasize just how pale the woman's skin was. She hadn't cut it like she had threatened to, but it was free now, instead of tied up into a pony-tail as she usually wore it.

She wondered how hard would it be for Celes to dye it blonde again? It looked better that way. Much better than Terra's own fake blonde, almost white, hair. Absently, she scratched the back of her head. Her hair felt dry and strangely fragile, not like normal hair at all, but more like straw.

"Hey," Celes said softly, interrupting her thoughts. "You all right?"

Terra nodded. She liked the way the former general's normally cold expression always seemed to soften a little whenever she spoke directly to her, her tone never icy or dismissive like it so frequently was around her Returner friends.

The older woman tucked a strand a stray lock behind her ear. "Do I have something in my hair or something?"

Nervously, Terra shook her head and that rare half-smile she so enjoyed returned to the woman's face.

"Then why do you keep looking at me like that?" Celes asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Thankfully, none of the men walking ahead were paying them the least bit of attention.

"Will it be hard to get our hair back the way it was when this is over?"

Celes shook her head, less to say 'no' and more to express her disbelief at the question. "Are you still worrying about that? Blonde doesn't look _that_ bad on you."

"I was thinking about _your hair_, actually."

Her friend canted her head ever so slightly and smiled. She knew Terra well enough now to know that the question wasn't _meant_ to be insulting.

"It should be blonde," Terra continued.

The smile broadened. "Really?"

Again Terra nodded. She felt strangely uncomfortable talking about this. Whether it was because she was now blushing, or because of the way Celes' blue eyes stared so intently at her, she didn't know.

Noticing Terra's discomfort, Celes mercifully changed the subject. "Do you sense anything?"

The woman's gaze dropped to the concrete sidewalk as they continued along. She tried to concentrate on any magical sensations like the one that had drawn her to Ramuh so many weeks ago.

It took some time. One of the side-effects of the magic-dampening potion she had taken was how it seemed to mess with her ability to concentrate. Still, she could sense magitek knights - there were dozens, maybe hundreds of them in the city - but she saw no espers. There was nothing in all of Vector with the power that Ramuh once possessed, nothing that felt like him or like Narshe's frozen esper Valigarmanda.

Looking up again, she frowned. "Nothing."

Celes let out a breath. To be honest, she hadn't expected Terra to sense anything. That damn dampening potion made her feel disturbingly empty inside and she couldn't sense a thing as far as magic was concerned. "Don't worry. The factory probably has something to dampen magical energies as well." She had no idea if that was really the case or not, but it seemed plausible. She had lived in Vector for years and had never sensed anything special about the magitek factory, even though there must've been dozens, if not hundreds, of espers in there.

"Is it left or right?" Locke asked when they reached the next intersection, a confused thoroughfare with at least six different exits.

"Second left _then_ right," Celes said, taking the lead. The center of Vector was built on the ruins of a nameless and long-forgotten city and as a result the streets were twisty, sometimes wide but mostly narrow, and easy for even for a local to get lost in. The only straight-forward route in all of Vector was the wide avenue that led from the main gate to the Imperial capitol. Then something hit her like a punch to the gut; the memory of evicting people from their homes just before construction began was still fresh in her mind. As a newly minted private in the Imperial Army, it had been her first assignment.

Terra's eyes were darting from one alley to another. It was growing darker by the minute and she drew closer to the woman at her side. Street lamps were few and far between in this part of the city.

Celes whispered in her ear, "Try not to look around so much."

Terra's wide eyes asked the question.

"You look like you've never been to Vector before," the woman continued. "The people around here love it when outsiders wander into town. They'll think you're an easy mark."

Terra may have lived in Vector all her life, but this place was as alien to her as Zozo or Narshe, or indeed, any other city in the world. Vector was worse than Zozo though. No trees lined its streets and the air smelled of soot and sulfur. There was nothing to be seen but machines and people. Everything was a mass of metal and concrete and asphalt and she hated it.

Celes was still advising her, "Just try to act like you've lived here all your life."

"How do I do _that_?" Terra whispered back.

"Try looking annoyed. It's pretty much the default expression in this place anyway."

She tried, but when Celes glanced back at her and responded by slapping a hand over her mouth to cover her laughter, Terra knew she had got it wrong somehow.

"There!" Celes said suddenly at Terra's much more naturally narrowed eyes and downturned lips. "Now you've got it."

...

It was perhaps a dozen more blocks to go before the factory, but they were forced to stop behind a crowd of people as a military convoy rattled slowly past. Celes peeked over the heads of the onlookers long enough to recognize that the convoy was part of Leo's First Army. Then she kept her head down. It wouldn't do to be caught before they had even entered the damn factory.

Then, over the bustling crowd, Celes thought she heard a whistle. Despite knowing better than to acknowledge the calls of strangers in this place, she looked to her right and saw a dark robed figure standing there alone in a narrow alley, its face concealed in shadow. It held out a hand and beckoned her closer with a curled finger. Celes coughed to get the attention of her companions and then indicated her intentions with a sharp nod of her head.

Despite their dubious looks, everyone followed her without a word. Whoever it was down here, they might be less likely to start something with five people bearing down on them. Surprisingly, the shrouded figure held his ground, even when Celes was within a yard of him.

Like a monk removing his cowl, the figure pulled back his heavy hood with both hands. Celes gasped. That face... It wasn't a man at all. It was -

"Hey, Blondie."

"_Fang_," she gasped. It was her all right, Oerba Yun Fang – formerly _Colonel_ Fang of the _'Flying Vipers'_ - but much of the left side of her face was covered in slightly raised scars, just a little darker than her natural skin tone, and there were shiny flecks running up and down her neck, almost like freckles. It looked as though she had survived a fight with a flamethrower, except of course that such a fight wasn't generally something people lived through.

Two things hadn't changed though: Fang's familiar piercing green eyes, and that maddening smirk of hers.

Still, Celes kept her distance. This was like meeting a ghost. Or, rather that's exactly what it _should've_ been like. Fang was supposed to be _dead_. Nobody attached to that secret mission had made it out alive. 'They died for the glory of the Empire.' That was all she had ever been told.

"What happened to you?"

"Long story," Fang said dismissively. "Maybe I'll tell you some time. Come on; let's get off the street before we attract attention." Fang gestured at her skeptical looking companions. "Bring your friends too."

...

They were led down a series of narrow alleys, passing over piles of discarded scrap metal as well as other much less pleasant things. Everyone watched Fang was varying degrees of suspicion, all except Locke who seemed perfectly at ease. Did he know her, Terra wondered. Eventually, they reached a metal door that only opened when Fang gave the password.

When everyone had passed through, Celes found her back shoved hard against the metal wall. "What the hell, Celes?" Fang demanded. "You brought her _and_ yourself to Vector? Why not bring Banon along next time and wrap him up in a box with a nice big bow on it? Give the Empire the chance to catch all their most hated enemies at once."

Even with Fang appearing to be half a second from breaking her neck, Celes sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm the only one who really knows this city, and Terra –" Celes paused, deciding on just how much she should let this still very angry woman know, "Terra needs to get inside that Magitek facility." Then she thought of the silent esper still residing in her head, "And so do I."

Fang snorted and released her. "So it's true," she said smiling now, "you've defected."

"Yes. It's true," Celes said gruffly, dusting off her clothes. Hopefully, the resistance in Vector was in better shape than this filthy hovel they occupied.

In the center of what looked like it used to be a kitchen was a rather dented and worn metal table. Fang bid everyone to sit down, but only Sabin and Terra actually did. Cyan hovered near the door, evidently not convinced they were safe. Locke instantly began chatting amiably with one of the room's other occupants, a stern looking old women Celes didn't recognize. Celes stared pointedly at the thief until he finally noticed and gave her a somewhat reassuring smile. _'Okay,'_ she thought, _'I guess this isn't a trap then.'_

Fang was leaning against the table, studying Terra closely, "You're the so-called magitek witch, right?"

Terra gulped. Fang's gaze was intense to say the least, but not exactly threatening... more searching and curious, really. She nodded.

"A pleasure to meet you then," their host said, holding out a strong hand, which like the rest of her was criss-crossed with scars, mostly the kind one gets from bladed weapons. She shook the hand nervously, "I'm Fang."

Locke chimed in from his spot near a shuttered window, "Fang's our top operative in Vector, and this is -" his elderly friend fixed him with a glare that sucked all the life out of the room, "- someone who would rather remain anonymous," he finished lamely.

Celes shook her head in disbelief. Locke knew Fang was alive this whole time? She wanted to be angry at him, but she had no right to be. She'd long assumed Fang was dead. There were a million questions she wanted to ask, but they had more urgent matters to attend to right now.

"So," Fang drawled, "You guys plan on taking the facility tour or something?"

"Or something..." Celes muttered.

The woman grinned. "It would be a hell of lot easier to get in there if there was just one of you, you know?"

Well, _that_ was easy enough to agree with. "True. Unfortunately, we need to do more than just _get in_."

"Planning on sabotaging the place?" Fang asked, her eyes brightening.

Celes shrugged. "If we can." Sabotage was certainly on the agenda, but that alone wouldn't be enough to stop the Empire from overrunning the north. They needed to find something useful, something game-changing. They needed to find the espers.

Fang dropped into a chair, mounting it backwards in a very familiar way. From this angle, Celes couldn't see a single burn scar, but even with the scars, Fang was still beautiful. She still exuded that confidence that allowed her to rise through the ranks so quickly. If she was leading things here in Vector, then the resistance was surely in good hands.

"The infusion process changes the recipient every time," Fang was saying. "Espers are more than just sources of magic. They have personalities, desires, hopes and dreams, just like anybody else," she said, looking straight into Celes' eyes. "That's why they do it to children now. So no one notices the change."

She turned to Terra, "_You_, however, are different, but what's so special about you, I wonder?"

Terra's eyes darted nervously from one companion's eyes to the next. She wasn't sure if they were supposed to trust this woman yet.

Celes spoke up before Terra could say anything, "Maybe we'll tell you if you can get us into that factory."

Fang mimicked Celes' dismissive reaction from just a few moments ago with such accuracy that Terra was impressed. It seemed like these two women had known each other for some time. The dark-robed woman glanced at Locke who was now leaning against the bare wall, inadvertently flecking paint off of it with his heavy coat. "Can we trust these people?"

Locke nodded. "You have my word." Over the following tension filled minutes, the thief detailed his adventures since running into Terra in Narshe, emphasizing in particular the great lengths his new allies had gone to in order to keep Narshe and its frozen esper safe from Kefka.

Terra had been worried, but it seemed like Fang and her friends here trusted Locke's word implicitly. She relaxed a little and took a glass of water when the quiet elderly lady offered it to her. Sabin, meanwhile, was gnawing on a roll of bread.

"All right," Fang said, pushing her chair back from the table and standing up briskly. "I'll get you in."

The old woman in the shadows frowned more severely, "If they catch you in there, it could jeopardize everything."

Fang's gaze dropped to the floor and she nodded in agreement. "Might want to tell everyone to get out of town tonight, just in case."

"This had better be worth it," the matron said cooly as she disappeared down the dark hallway.

"If we could somehow shut that place down, it would change everything," Fang said, seemingly to convince herself more than anyone else still in the room. "The place is usually empty by twenty-two hundred hours. Until then, you guys are welcome to hang around here." She gestured to a cleaner, more brightly lit room furnished with couches, a record player and all the various amenities of home. "There's a sitting room over there, if you're interested."

The assembled Returners mumbled their thanks and followed her down the hall.

"Nice hair," Fang added as she strolled by.

Celes rolled her eyes, and as the room slowly emptied she stood still, keeping her gaze firmly on the opposite wall, waiting until it was only her and Locke left, then she called out his name.

"Hmm?" Locke murmured.

"Thanks."

He blinked. "_Thanks?_"

"For trusting me," Celes reluctantly continued.

Despite the gloomy lighting, she could see the man's cheeks redden slightly. "Oh, sure. No problem."

...

Celes wasn't expecting Fang's idea to compete with Locke's 'impersonate the world's most famous operatic soprano plan' for a place on her top-five list of the dumbest plans she'd ever participated in, but alas, as she crawled slowly along a gently swaying metal girder that ran high over the heads of the two guards manning the entrance to the facility, it was hard to escape the feeling that yes, this plan was truly awful.

At least it was dark, and the loud constant hiss of steam escaping from some nearby grates that lined the elevated road helped mask the creaking of the girder as the six of them crawled along it.

She had no idea why the Empire left this metal ruin standing here, but she certainly wasn't going to complain. Much of the lower half of Vector was covered with such things - relics of long forgotten construction projects, or things even more ancient - she just hoped this one would bear the weight of all of them.

"I – I'm going to be sick!" Thankfully, that wasn't one of her companions; it was their 'diversion', an elderly Returner sympathizer who had just stumbled to his knees in front of the two Imperial guards.

One of the men lifted his rifle like he was considering hitting the old man in the head with it. "Get out of here," he muttered. Sometimes Celes thought they only assigned people to guard duty if their bearing suggested that they were sneering at you behind their masks, with bonus points if they could perfectly capture that particular tone of voice that says, 'you utterly disgust me.'

"Urgh... Gonna toss it all," the old man continued. Then, to Celes' great surprise, he vomited on both guard's boots.

"Hey!" they shouted in unison, stepping back hurriedly.

Sabin looked over his shoulder and grimaced while Terra shivered.

She'd have to give the old man credit for being committed to his act. In alarm, one of the guards dropped his magitek rifle, which fired a shot off to the west and shattered a window in a high-rise several blocks away.

"Ah, shit," the man said. "We'll be filling out paperwork for the rest of the night."

The radio at their little guard post suddenly came to life, "What the bloody hell was that?!" a voice screeched over the static.

"Sorry, sorry!" the senior of the two said into the receiver. The old man quickly disappeared into the shadows, his job well done as Fang whispered to them all to keep crawling forward. Eventually, after a ninety-degree turn to the left they were able to drop down to the empty street below where a combination of steam and more metal girders hid them from the guard's view, not that those two were paying the least bit of attention to what was going on behind them now.

Celes could hear one of them still moaning over the still hissing steam, "Dammit, and I just had these polished."

"Worked like a charm," Fang said, dusting off the dark robe she was still wearing, and everyone –even Cyan – seemed to agree. "Come on," she added, "I hope these door codes are still good."

...

They were marching through a cavern constructed entirely of metal. Metal sounds echoed down the halls, metal smells filled her nostrils, metal was so thick in the air Terra thought that if she stuck out her tongue she might even be able to taste it.

It was cold and alien to her and it was hard for Terra to fight the urge to go running in the other direction, away from this man-made prison. She yearned to feel the earth beneath her feet.

Fang led the way as they descended further and further, Celes and Terra side by side behind her with the rest of their friends, Locke, Sabin and Cyan, bringing up the rear. It seemed like the kind of place even Edgar wouldn't like, and none of the men appeared to be enjoying this little adventure. Cyan was frowning more than usual and muttering under his breath about 'infernal machines.'

Terra could relate.

Every once and a while she'd see something - a strange device, a brightly lit hallway, even a light stand - that brought back distant memories of previous visits to this horrible place. The masked scientists that poked and prodded her had been just like their surroundings; cold, and uncaring. At the time she had never left the city of Vector without her slave crown, had never seen the forests or the mountains. Now having tasted the world beyond, Terra wanted with all her heart to flee and never return.

The thought occurred to her; perhaps it was because of this unnatural place that those nameless men were the way they were?

Then she frowned. That wasn't right. She should hate them... shouldn't she?

At last they passed through a door and into a cavernous warehouse with high metal walls. A series of catwalks led to the floor below on which were stacked hundreds, maybe thousands, of crates. Between the crates were empty conveyor belts which continued to run even though the facility was completely empty of people.

Cautiously, they descended into the warehouse. They tried to be quiet, but it was hard not to make a sound when there were six pairs of boots treading along the metal stairways. Occasionally, Celes would examine a crate more closely and announce its contents. Every single one of them was filled with magitek weaponry of some kind; lasers, missiles, power cores, and a hundred other things besides. Still, Terra felt no magic. The effects of the magical dampening tonic they had all taken were beginning to wear off, but still, she could only just barely feel Celes, and to a lesser extent, her other Returner companions, save Fang. There was no sign of any espers.

Then she blinked. She felt something... something _evil_.

Everyone stopped in unison when Celes held up a hand. She gestured them behind a wall of crates as a door on the far side of the warehouse opened, revealing a man in silhouette dragging something behind him.

They watched in horror as it was soon clear that the man was Kefka Palazzo, and he was dragging something along the floor behind him.

Terra shuddered. That 'something' was a creature of some kind, one with a massive muscular body, red skin and a long red mane of hair. It was an _esper_.

Kefka dumped the body next to the conveyor. The massive, slowly moving machine was raised about three feet above the ground so that they could only see the mad clown's upper body now.

Kefka paced in front of the conveyor, smiling in the way that always made Celes' blood boil. It was a mad, gloating sort of smile and his teeth shone in the bright, artificial light of this place.

"I am a god!" he cried out, as if he were on stage in front an audience of thousands. "I'm all-powerful! I'll collect more espers, I'll extract their magic... and then... I'll revive the Warring Triad!"

Terra watched in horror as Kefka hefted the esper onto the moving conveyor-belt with supernatural ease. She yearned to reveal herself, to go out and save that creature before he disappeared forever, but Celes' firm hand kept her in place. The woman was shaking her head. Perhaps she was right. If they attacked Kefka now, there was little chance they would be able to stop him from escaping and bringing all the Empire down on their heads.

And she wasn't sure if she could even cast a fire spell with her magic still dampened like it was.

Kefka was still giving his one-man show, "I've already drained all your powers! You're useless to me now!" On to the conveyor went another esper, this one a tall, slender human-looking woman with blue skin and long, blue hair to match. "You too! Take a hike!"

Off the two bodies went, slowly down the conveyor and over the side into some dark pit that Terra couldn't see from this vantage point. She braced herself for a scream or some other kind of horrific noise, but not a sound was to be heard, not even a thud. She hoped that meant the espers might still be alive down there.

Kefka stood there a few moments longer, theatrically dusting his palms and seeming to revel in his victory over those two helpless creatures before turning swiftly on his heel and strutting out the door.

When the door slammed shut behind him, all the Returners burst out of hiding. Locke, Celes and Terra went straight to the pit. Terra looked down into it, but even with her excellent vision there was simply nothing to be seen. What disturbed her even more was how she couldn't _sense_ anything either. Even the magicite stones the Returners carried could be sensed by her now... but she felt nothing coming from the bottom of that inky black pit.

It felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Hey." Celes said, a soothing hand still on her arm. "We'll find them. They're not dead. The Empire doesn't know about magicite, remember? Whatever the Empire normally does to espers after they had passed their usefulness, they certainly don't properly kill them, otherwise they'd _know_."

Locke nodded. "We'd better hurry though."

Fang murmured in agreement. "The way down is over here, I think," she said, running swiftly over to a nondescript looking metal door, the Returners close on her heels.

* * *

><p>Next Chapter: The Magitek Factory part II.<p>

* * *

><p>AN - Updates will continue to be sporadic (but hopefully not <em>every eight months<em> sporadic). So many stories I want to write, so little time :l


End file.
